Under a Darkened Sky
by xxstarsnowxx
Summary: Zeus' Barrier was not completed. Scattered across the globe after their defeat by Nemesis, the Legendary Bladers and their friends find themselves in a world where their beys have vanished along with their constellations and planets. One by one, they realize they now possess superpowers, and begin a movement to end the reign of Nemesis, his followers, and the black sun.
1. Chapter 1

**It took over a year, but here is the story I have been working on. New chapters will hopefully be out weekly, as I only have to edit the drafts, not write the whole thing from scratch. Just a note: _italics_** ** _is used for flashbacks,_ regular print for everything happening in present time.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade Metal Fight.**

* * *

The earth was rocky and desolate save a few habitable spots of land scattered here and there. Barely enough for one traveling alone to live off of the fruits of the land. Still, Nemesis needed its servants and underlings to survive in this new world. After his initial angry release of energy resulting in the demolition of great cities and good land he reigned in his wrath, for what fun would the desolation of the earth bring him after all its inhabitants had perished? No, better to leave them be for now and watch them all suffer from afar, for he himself had suffered for a long time. His servants Rago, Pluto, Johannes and the others would have their reward for their assistance in his return. One great city he would bestow upon each of them to govern. Nemesis' children – the shades of the black sun – would roam freely throughout the earth, bringing terror into the hearts of those surviving humans. And in other cases, death.

The days too were changed. For twelve hours the sky was darkened by the black sun, while for the other twelve the regular sun was allowed to shine. For without the light of the normal sun, Nemesis realized that all life on the planet would quickly die. It simply would not do for his fragile little playthings to perish so early in his rule of darkness. No, better to pick the loners off slowly, one by one when they strayed too far from their safe havens scattered across the earth and were left outside during the twelve hours of darkness. That would be a far more entertaining way to punish all of them for his years of imprisonment. And thus it was during the age of the reign of the black sun.

xXxXx

Night was falling quickly upon the earth. The black sun was appearing on the edge of the horizon. Madoka was worried. Gingka had not yet returned from his most recent supply run into the nearest town that had not been completely destroyed by the initial takeover of Nemesis, but was too ruinous to live in.

The bushes near the entrance to the camp area that had been set up rustled. "Gingka?" she asked quietly, in case it wasn't him.

"Not Gingki, sorry Madoka," came the answering voice of Yu, who stepped into the clearing that housed the mobile home which had been scavenged by the group just after the final battle with Nemesis.

The Libra blader was followed by Tsubasa, who carried stacks of firewood. "This should last us the night," he told Madoka confidently. "And Yu even found some wild blueberries. They'll make a great treat after all the dried food we've been having."

Madoka smiled. The two of them along with Gingka always worked so hard and yet had the energy to make her smile still too.

"That's good news. We all need to keep our strength up." This came from Yuki, who had just exited the camper. "Kenta and Hikaru are just finishing up the last touches on the radio. We should be able to broadcast to anyone else out there soon." Yuki glanced around. "Gingka's not back yet?"

Everyone looked around. "Nah, but you know Gingki. He probably was trying to find a grill and the fixings so we can cook up some burgers," Yu joked.

The others smiled, but it was strained. _Where could he be,_ thought Madoka.

xXx

 _Pant pant._ "Aw man, they've never come out _this_ early in the evening," gasped Gingka to himself. Looking up into the nearly starless sky, the sun's light could still be clearly seen, though the shadows grew long and the black sun approached in the east, bringing darkness with it. Still, the shades of the black sun were after him, regardless of the fact that there was still daylight. _They grow stronger_ , the Pegasus wielder thought. He glanced over his shoulder and shuddered to see two shades – made of dark energy yet humanoid in form – paused not far from the rock Gingka hid behind.

Unfortunately, that glance cost him. One shade spotted him and raced toward him. There was no escape though. The rocky landscape behind Gingka would leave him wide open for an attack if he tried to make a run for it. The rock he hid behind was far too heavy to push over for sure. _I guess there's no choice_ , he thought. He spun and pushed off of the rock, opting for the 'run for it' option.

The shade was gaining ground on him. Gingka could practically feel its malevolent force behind him. _Come on, come on!_ He put in a desperate burst of speed and before he knew it, the shade was far behind him as he zigzagged back toward where camp was set up, still toting the supplies he had scavenged. He slowed and entered the camp, trying to look as casual as possible, which wasn't too difficult. He was somehow barely out of breath.

"Hey guys, I think something's up..." Gingka trailed off, puzzled by what he had just done.

xXxXx

 _"In the end, this is the limit of your power. Now the power of the god will squash you. That is the fitting end for a worm. Ha ha ha! Is this hard for you? Tell me, what do you have to say in worm words?"_

 _"I will... not lose! Even if my opponent is a god, I will defeat anyone who stands in my way; do you hear me! My name is Ryuga. I reign over this world as the strongest, the Dragon Emperor himself! Ultimate Move, Dragon Emperor Life Destructor!"_

 _"Nemesis!"_

 _"Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! This is so great, this is the best feeling in the whole world!" Doji laughed even while falling to his death. "Ah ha ha ha! This is the best!"_

 _"You have done well to last so long against Nemesis. This is your reward: take it! Special Move, Armageddon!" cried out Rago._

 _And then we saw him fall. The Legendary Blader of Summer. The strongest of us all. Had he worked with us, things would not have ended up like this. Zeus' Barrier could have been completed and the evildoers and their god of destruction put away forever. But that's not how it worked out. We arrived too late, and one of our number vanished into thin air along with his summer constellation, Ldrago. Yes, not only his bey vanished but also its very stars from the sky. The eight of us carried on the fight to the bitter end, aided by Yu, Tsubasa, Masamune and Kenta, but in the end, Nemesis overpowered us as well. When we each woke up, many of us were separated, and all our beys were gone. The sky was dark save the constellations of the bladers who fought on Nemesis' side. Is it the will of the heavens that Nemesis win after all? No, I refuse to believe it. Though we live under a darkened sky, though our beys are no more and the stars of their constellation have vanished, I refuse to believe it. There_ must _be something more for us to do in this world, or else why and how did we survive the battle?_

"It seems our work is not yet done, Tithi," Dynamis spoke to the Legendary Blader of Venus. Somehow, after the battle was over and all those who had fought Nemesis were defeated, the two of them had ended up near the Mist Mountain temple in which Dynamis had stayed for so long. Traveling through the maze, which Dynamis had memorized, the two of them had met the treasure hunter Ryuto, who joined up with them. Being alone in the new world Nemesis had created was dangerous after all. Safety could be found in both groups and shelters. That was about it.

"You've seen something in the sky?" Tithi asked the older teen, coming over to see what was up.

"No." Dynamis sat there looking up. "The stars do not shine, save those of the constellations whose bladers fought alongside Nemesis. Our own are still dark."

"Oh," was all Tithi said, kicking a small rock along the ground. "Say, when do you think Ryuto will be back? He's been away in the maze _forever_!"

Dynamis smiled. "Not forever, less than a week. And he should be back soon. He said he'd check all the hidden caches in the maze for food and other supplies."

"And now he's back!" The treasure hunter strode into the room loaded down with supplies. "Man, there are tons more out there too. I had nearly forgotten how many people trekked into that maze hoping to find treasure and then either ran out without their supplies after the first trap caught them or never returned. We should be set for months!"

"Hooray!" the excitable Tithi cried, racing to help Ryuto put stuff in its proper place.

"I wonder how the others are faring," Dynamis murmured under his breath, too low for the other two to hear.

xXxXx

 _Friends. I hadn't had friends for years. And now that I do, I remember what I missed all those years ago. Why I took the hardest job with the highest pay. Why I gave myself over to my profession – to being a blader for hire._ Chris was now alone with his thoughts once more, as he had been in the years between his friends abandoning him and his meeting Gingka and the others. "What use is a blader for hire without his bey?" Chris muttered, this time out loud. His voice was hoarse and scratchy from disuse.

Without bothering to look for shelter, Chris flopped down on his back, eyes facing the sky, though there was nothing to see except the constellations of the bladers who supported and helped raise Nemesis. And of course, the black sun, which stood out even blacker than the empty depths of space around it.

"Orion." Chris murmured the name of his constellation. He missed seeing its ever-present light in the skies. "If only you would shine again. Why did you leave me all alone?"

Chris sighed and rolled onto his side. He had grown used to sleeping on the barren ground of this new world, not needing any extra comforts in order to find rest. But before he closed his eyes, he saw a light that started seemingly from him and led off into the distant southeast. Shocked, the winter blader blinked, and the light was gone. Still, it had been there, Christ was sure of it. It seemed to be... showing him the way! Abandoning his attempt at rest, he started out in the direction the light had pointed, not hesitating as he walked out into the darkness.

xXxXx

Pluto's city: Hong Kong, China.

Two cloaked and hooded figures walked down the crowded streets. People were hustling home, wanting to be in the relative safety of their houses before it grew dark and the shades of the black sun congregated to drain the life-force of stragglers out on the streets. Almost every night an unfortunate soul would be caught out, and their screams would echo through the streets. But recently, namely just in the past week, things had changed. The shades were appearing in greater numbers, for it seemed now that they had an enemy in the city: someone was taking them down.

"I just don't understand, Dashan," Mei-Mei said from the safety of the building occupied by the four members of Team Wang Hu Zhong. "How can the shades be destroyed? Aren't they made of dark energy?"

"That may be true, Mei-Mei, but everything has a weakness," Dashan thought logically.

Then Chao Xin joined in the conversation. "I was out and about today-"

"Flirting," interrupted Chi-yun.

Chao Xin sent him a glare. "And I heard people saying they heard rumors that if you 'disrupt the form' of a shade it has to return to the black sun in order to regenerate. Basically they go up in smoke, or in this case, dark flames of energy."

"But you've never seen it firsthand?" Dashan wanted all the information, not just rumors.

"And how do you 'disrupt its form'?" questioned Mei-Mei.

Chao Xin ran his hands through his hair with a sigh. "I don't have the answers to everything."

An hour later, it was pitch-black outside. Almost all the electric lights were turned off after dusk. Wang Hu Zhong always unplugged their lights to save their limited night time ration of electricity for more important things, like keeping their refrigerator and freezer running. Candles lit the way around their house instead.

Mei-Mei dared to peek out the window and saw a mass of shades marching through the streets. She shuddered and was about to close the blinds completely when she saw a light in the distance. It was a red light, coming closer and closer until it was clear something was coming over the roofs of the Hong Kong houses at an extremely fast speed. "Guys, come quickly!"

Dashan, Chi-yun and Chao Xin crowded around the slight gap in the blinds and had various exclamations of surprise as the light took a sharp turn and was now traveling across the roofs on the opposite side of the street that their house was on.

"The shades! Look!" Chi-yun pointed excitedly. The shades of the black sun were turning to pursue the red light, though at a much slower speed. Shades were pouring in from other side streets, all congregating along the road in front of the house of Wang Hu Zhong.

"I hope this does not become a problem for us," Dashan commented as Chao Xin muttered that he had _never_ seen so many in one area before.

By this time, the red light was traveling back toward them, still along the same rooftops, so fast it seemed only to be a red blur. Then, just as it reached their own residence, it leaped across to the next street, now running directly away from Wang Hu Zhong.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake.

"Wha... What is happening?" wailed Mei-Mei, grabbing the windowsill in order to stay upright.

Then, before four pairs of amazed eyes, the very road they lived on split in two so suddenly it seemed to be swallowing up the shades upon it, which fell to their doom. The ground then sealed up behind them, leaving no escape.

"Does that count as 'disrupting their form'?" Chao Xin asked as a joke. Everyone face-palmed.

But the show outside was not yet done. Now that the shades were disposed of, the red light reappeared, this time jumping to the ground for the first time. When it came to a halt and stopped shining red, there seemed to be complete and utter darkness.

"Did it just... disappear?" Dashan asked rhetorically. The four squinted their eyes and could just barely make out a medium sized humanoid form standing in the place the red light had disappeared. Dashan was about to comment on it when a larger form stepped out of the shadows and into the not-quite-as-dark middle of the street, which now had a jagged but not dangerous fissure down its middle where the earth had opened and then closed. The larger figure put a hand on the shoulder of the smaller one, who turned to face it. The two of them exchanged words which Wang Hu Zhong could not make out, and then the smaller figure pointed directly at their house. The larger figure turned to look, as the four Chinese former bladers quickly closed the blinds completely.

"Chi-yun! Why did you bring that candle so close to the window?" hissed Mei-Mei.

About to come back with a nasty retort, Chi-yun swallowed his anger at the sound of a strong knock on their door.

None moved to answer it.

"Open up or I'll bust this door down!" shouted a vaguely familiar voice that none of Wang Hu Zhong could quite place.

Chao Xin sighed and moved to open the door a tiny crack. It was then shoved open by the larger of the two figures, both cloaked and hooded.

"You guys, huh?" asked the smaller figure, squeezing in the door and closing it behind him.

Dashan frowned as he unhooded himself. "Bao... and Aguma, I suppose."

Aguma, the larger figure, then unhooded himself as well. "I am afraid we will have to put aside our differences. The hundred schools of Beylin Fist and the Beylin Temple now have a common enemy."

"Work with us to fight back against the shades of the black sun and free the city!" Bao finished.

"Fight the shades? Are you crazy?! We aren't superheroes!" argued Mei-Mei.

"But you can be," Aguma said mysteriously. "Let us help you find your own special abilities, as we found ours."

Bao then took over explaining that soon after the defeat of the Legendary Bladers, he and Aguma – who had somehow ended up with each other after the battle – discovered while fleeing a pack of shades that Bao had superspeed of sorts.

"A crimson flash, like my bey," Bao explained.

Aguma then picked up the tale: "After I saw Bao quickly outdistancing me, I felt something inside. I can't really explain, but I just knew I should turn and face the shades. Barely knowing what I was doing, I stretched out my arms with a yell and the earth began to shake and split in two, swallowing up the shades. I made a gesture and the earth closed back up around them."

Bao continued, "By that time I had doubled back to find Aguma and came to the conclusion that our powers were somehow based on the powers our beys possessed."

There was a moment of silence as the members of Wang Hu Zhong soaked all of this information in.

"So how would we begin to discover our powers?" Dashan asked slowly.

Bao and Aguma considered for a bit before Bao replied. "The best way is to go out and fight some shades." Seeing the freaked out expressions on their faces, he quickly explained his theory. "Aguma's and my powers didn't come out until we were in a tough situation. My current guess is that the stress and presence of the shades' dark energy causes the trigger that releases our beys' powers from us."

Team Wang Hu Zhong considered this proposal.

"It sounds risky, but if that is the only way..." trailed off Chao Xin.

"Then it is agreed." Aguma stepped back toward the door, one hand poised to turn the knob and exit. "We meet here at curfew tomorrow to clear again."

As he walked out the door, Bao explained the term. "We call our method of shade disposal 'clearing', because it eliminates them from the city. Though more of them just return to figure out who got rid of their brethren in the first place," he ended bitterly.

As the door shut behind Bao; Dashan, Chi-yun, Chao Xin and Mei-Mei sat in thought for a long time before getting some sleep. Just what had they gotten themselves into?

* * *

 **Another note: At this point, the timeline for the story is semi-ambiguous, but eventually things will come into alignment.**

 **Please let me know what you think so far. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well.**

 **The usual disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade Metal Fight.**

* * *

Herschel's City: New York, New York

6:00 AM

The first bus to the countryside was just leaving. Food didn't just appear, and the population of New York was much larger than any other city, as it had not suffered as much loss of life as many other large cities did during the initial destruction caused by Nemesis. Herschel, who had claimed New York as his own after the approval of his master, ordered a mandatory labor duty in the local countryside for all citizens in order to be able to feed his high population – and more importantly in his mind, himself.

On this particular bus were Zeo, Toby and Masamune. The former Striker wielder was – as always – complaining.

"Why meeee!" he wailed.

Everyone around him, even his two best friends, frowned at him.

"We go through this every week, Masamune," Toby said quietly.

"And every week it's the same: you complain." That was Zeo.

All the other people on the bus nodded in agreement. It was their weekly shift to go do work on the countryside farms, and since the same people went each day of the week, the complaints of Masamune had gotten old long ago. Fortunately for all of them, this time his friends silenced his attempts to speak further.

After a day's worth of laboring in the fields, the ride back to the city was silent. Probably because Masamune was passed out on the shoulder of an annoyed Zeo. Toby woke him when it was time to disembark and head back to their New York residence.

They stood in the nearest food-ration line, got their allotted amount for that night and the next day, and then retired for the night. "Are things ever going to be interesting again?" Masamune asked his two friends quietly.

But there was no answer. Toby and Zeo must have already fallen asleep. Soon, Masamune did as well.

xXx

EEERRR! EEERRR!

"Well, I got my wish," Masamune groaned as he rolled out of bed and fell to the floor.

Meanwhile, the voice of Herschel came over the speakers. "My citizens, today is a most fortuitous day for you all. In honor of the visits of my fellow rulers, Cycnus of Boston and Keyser of Philadelphia, your ordinary work will cease. They will parade down the street to my palace-"

"You mean the Empire State Building," Toby noted, since Herschel had chosen the most famous building in the city for his base of operations.

"-and every one of you will line the streets to applaud them as they pass by with their entourage."

The tree friends stared blankly at the speaker which was sending out this message.

"You _will_ do this," Herschel continued as though hearing Masamune's question, "because you owe me your very lives. It was only my request for this city that caused your lives to be spared."

At that, the broadcast cut off, and the city was left in silence.

Zeo shrugged. "At least it's better than our normal factory assembly line work."

Toby nodded in agreement. Masamune did not answer. He had already fallen asleep standing up.

xXxXx

Cycnus steepled his hands as he faced the teen before him. "I would like to invite you to New York with me, as a part of my entourage, secretary."

"You mean hit man, don't you?" the teen answered.

Cycnus made a small noise of disagreement in his throat, but spread his hands and replied, "Yes, but we can't have the whole world knowing that now, can we?"

The teen leaned back. "True enough. But why would you need someone with my _special_ abilities on a diplomatic trip?"

"Not for your skills, per say, but more for a treat. Think of this as a reward for your good service – I mean partnership," Cycnus corrected himself, knowing how the teen detested the thought of being subordinate to anyone.

"Oh, so the others have hit men they are 'rewarding' as well. It'd be a shame if Nemesis' cronies all started fighting over available land," the teen said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

Cycnus frowned. This guy had some way of seeing right through his carefully planned words to discover what real truth lay beneath their falsehood. But that was exactly what made him the perfect hit man. "No doubt the others have good men, but I doubt they have your unique abilities."

The teen stood. "One thing I know is this, Cycnus: Never underestimate your opponent. Or it could mean your own demise."

As he walked out of Cycnus' office the Nemesis blader muttered under his breath to himself, "What a typical answer from you, Damian Hart."

xXxXx

"B-b-b-bull! Those things are nasty!" Benkei shouted while sprinting away from the shades that were currently chasing him through the African wilderness. As he zigzagged for cover through the scrub brush and past a small scraggly tree, he was pulled up suddenly into its limited cover.

About to yell with fright and surprise, he was suppressed by a hand against his mouth. As it turned out, Demure had rigged up a pulley system which shot Benkei up into the tree and out of the line of sight of the shades, which then disbanded their attempts at pursuit of the former Bull blader.

"Nice save pal," Benkei said after he was certain the coast was clear and Demure had removed his hand.

The former Scorpio blader was quick to jump out of range of Benkei's crushing hug and let himself down from the tree. Benkei unknotted the rope that had hoisted him into the tree from around his waist before jumping down himself. "Good thing we found that campsite a few days ago, or we wouldn't have found this rope. Or the tent we're currently using," Demure noted, pointing to their industrial strength tent that was acting as their 'home' of sorts.

"And the FOOD!" yelled Benkei, cramming some chips in his mouth.

"No! Stop it Benkei! Those are emergency only! We need to make this last!" a panicked Demure reprimanded him. "And stop shouting, you'll draw the shades right back to us. They only found us earlier because you were yelling Kyoya's name at the top of your lungs, which _won't_ make him magically reappear."

Benkei pouted. "But Demure, we just had an emergency situation which I barely got out of alive! That surely calls for an emergency bag of chips, doesn't it?" He didn't comment about the earlier mentioned incident. He knew Kyoya wouldn't 'magically reappear', yet couldn't help but hope for it.

Demure sighed and gave in. As long as Benkei didn't open another one, he'd let the chip incident slide by. Honestly, why couldn't he have gotten stuck in the African wilderness with ANYONE else? Kyoya? Nile? Even that overly friendly Gingka guy from Gan Gan Galaxy would surely be better than babysitting Benkei.

Demure sighed again. This was who he got stuck with though, and he just had to survive until they either reached civilization or met up with someone out here in the wilderness. That being said, Demure felt they had a better chance out in the deserts and grasslands. He knew how to survive out here; he had lived here his entire life. Not to mention that the number of shades out stalking the land were sufficiently limited. The closer they got to coastal villages, the more and more numerously they appeared.

So Demure led Benkei back inland, with the former Bull blader none the wiser. On and on the two traveled, surviving off the land and whatever they could scavenge from abandoned or ruined villages, hiding during the hours of the black sun from the shades – though they were growing bolder each day, venturing out in the early and late hours of the normal day. Demure figured it would only be a matter of time before they hunted humans at all hours of the day, regardless of the fact they were only at full strength during the twelve hours under the black sun. Still, a weakened shade was still a danger to the humans they sought life energy from.

Was this going to be life from now on? Running for your life and hiding in terror? Demure still held hope, which seemed only a dull glimmer of a spark.

Benkei held a different hope, which seemed a blazing inferno to Demure's spark: hope that one day he would be reunited with his lost friend Kyoya.

xXxXx

"What's the matter Gingka?" asked Madoka as the teen walked into view of their clearing. "And don't you know better than to stay out so late? It's too dangerous!"

Madoka was surprised when Gingka took a step forward instead of being cowed by her anger as usual. "I was running from the shades and then I just... ended up here!" he said excitedly.

"Oh cool! Gingki can teleport?" Yu ran in and jumped on Gingka's back, causing the former Pegasus blader to nearly collapse.

"No Yu, not quite. I just ran really really fast!"

The former Libra blader frowned and slid off of Gingka's back. "Gingki," he began, shaking a finger at his friend, "don't tell me you got struck by lightning and became The Flash II."

Gingka waved him off. "No, nothing spectacular happened to me, I was just... able to run really fast!"

By now Tsubasa had joined the conversation. "It was probably your imagination. You were scared and running on adrenaline. It makes sense that you would lose pieces of your memory during such a terrifying situation, making it _seem_ like you were running that fast."  
Gingka frowned, feeling that perhaps Tsubasa was correct. How could he suddenly gain superspeed? He had lost everything in the final battle with Nemesis: All his fellow legendary bladers save Yuki, his beloved bey Pegasus, and even the constellation itself. He had seen his greatest rival die before his eyes, and just a few days later been helpless to save his father from the shades. Finding Madoka, Tsubasa, and Kenta had been the start of things looking up. Then they had found Yu with Yuki and Hikaru in the camper that now served as their base of operations.

So now here they were on the outskirts of Tokyo, so far unwilling to set foot into the city claimed by Johannes. Just as Gingka was about to say he maybe _had_ imagined the superspeed thing, Kenta emerged from the camper and announced, "The radio is working! Should we try to send out a broadcast?"

Tsubasa turned toward him as Hikaru and Yuki came out of the camper carrying the radio and attached broadcasting unit, all attached to a car battery for power. "No, let's listen before we act. Best not to broadcast our location out to anyone who can trace our signal."

By now Gingka was back to paying attention as well and voiced his agreement with the others. Yuki did the honors of turning the dial.

It was all static and fuzz until he found a news station still broadcasting from Tokyo. Of course, it could not be trusted due to the fact that Johannes controlled literally all of the media aspects of Tokyo now. Yuki skipped over it trying to find some super-secret underground station run by the scattered remnants of humanity. Maybe even a resistance movement run by former bladers. But no such station could be found.

Yuki sighed and scrolled back to the news station. They were proclaiming how the great Johannes was planning some big event. "Yes, the sport of bey battling will be returning to Tokyo!" the announcer was saying. The group huddled around the radio looked at each other in amazement. "You know them from the Beyblade World Championships as the Brazilian team, Team Garcia!"

Shock settled over the group as the announcer continued. "That's right, Argo Garcia, ruler of Sparta, Greece, and his siblings will be beyblading at Tokyo Stadium at noon tomorrow. They are also-" here it sounded like something got dropped at the recording studio and then a new voice came on.

"Meow, folks, this is your fearless leader Johannes speaking. I'd like to invite you all to Tokyo Stadium tomorrow at noon for beyblading and more! Be there for an extra special surprise!"

CLICK. The regular announcer came back on. "You heard him folks, come witness the first beyblade match since the rule of Nemesis began!"

Gingka and the others sat in silence as commercials came on and Yuki flipped off the radio. "So even the Garcias must have sided with Nemesis in the end," Gingka said.

"They must have if they still have their beys. Everyone who even slightly supported the Legendary Bladers lost theirs. And even the stars themselves vanished." Tsubasa added.

"Are we going to watch the bey battles tomorrow?" Hikaru asked the group.

"Can we please, Gingka?" begged Kenta.

"Hey, since when did _I_ become the leader? I thought Tsubasa and Madoka ran this camp," the redhead replied.

"Pft," scoffed Madoka. "Don't be silly. This decision has to be made by all of us. Let's settle this democratically with a vote. All in favor say 'Aye.'"

"Aye," said Kenta and Yu at the same time.

"Aye," Gingka said thirdly.

"Aye," Hikaru added.

Madoka put in her own "Aye."

Tsubasa looked at all their hopeful faces and sighed. "Why not? Aye."

All eyes turned to Yuki, who finally spoke his mind. "It would be too risky to show our faces in Tokyo everyone. Especially Gingka, Tsubasa, Kenta and myself. We were there at the final battle against Nemesis. Wouldn't this place be perfect to draw us out because of our love for beyblading? This whole thing could be a trap set up by the evildoers!"

Tsubasa frowned. "Yuki does have a point..."

"We should go!" Yu piped up. "I – I miss Libra. Just _seeing_ a bey battle... wouldn't that bring back our lost bladers spirits? Continuing to sit back and watch won't help us in the long run. If nothing else, we can do some spying and figure out what's going on in Tokyo now that the kitty cat has taken over."

After Yu's convincing argument, the group decided: they would indeed travel to Tokyo, though they'd be careful not to show their faces, and witness the first big beyblade battle to take place since the fall of the Legendary Bladers.

xXxXx

"Say, Dynamis. Do you think we should stick around here at Mist Mountain until we completely run out of food or what?" Ryuto queried. Over a month had passed, and their food supply was running low. "I've checked everywhere in the maze, but the other caches of food have either gone bad or disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Dynamis lowered his voice so as not to worry Tithi, who was studying the intricately carved constellations covering the temple for the umpteenth time. "Has someone else gotten in here?"

"If so, we'd better be on the lookout. Chances are this someone knows we're here and is hoping to finish us off for good, what with you and Tithi being Legendary Bladers and all."

Dynamis frowned. He hated to abandon Mist Mountain now, but if their security had seriously been compromised... "We may have no choice but to leave," he finally said, defeat evident in his tone. "I may not fully understand yet, but the heavens must have a reason for keeping us three bladers alive and safe for so long. Let us not squander this opportunity by ignoring the signs we see around us."

Ryuto blinked. "You mean by ignoring the fact that _someone else is in here with us_!"

Tithi ran over. "Someone's in here with us? Oh boy, I hope it's Yu!"

"But I'm already here, Tithi." Ryuto was pretty confused.

"No, I mean Yu, my friend. His Libra and my Quetzalcoatl had a great battle! It seems like ages ago now..." The boy trailed off sadly. He continued on as Dynamis silently glared at Ryuto over the younger boy's head. "I hope it's not Yo-Yo, he's just so mean!"

As Tithi continued to rant, none of them heard the near-silent footsteps sounding as the very someone they had been speaking about ascended the stairs to the temple. They all turned, however, as the twin stone doors groaned, slowly opening. Dynamis pushed Tithi behind him and Ryuto took up a fighting stance.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the guardian of Mist Mountain called out.

"Well well well, I should have known it was you, Legendary Blader of Jupiter." The doors swung closed behind a gaunt figure with ragged red and blue clothing, blond hair, and piercing blue eyes.

Dynamis gasped.

Tithi peeked around his protector's side. "Chris?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to az23bv for reviewing last chapter. The plot continues to thicken in Chapter 3. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was evening in Hong Kong, but Team Wang Hu Zhong was still missing one of their members.

"Okay, where is Chao Xin? We specifically agreed to meet up here before rendezvousing with Aguma and Bao at our house." Dashan was more than a little annoyed. They had agreed waiting at Mei-Mei's workplace would be the best plan, as she got out the latest of all of them. Dashan decided it was best if the entirety of their group showed up at the same time to confront the members of the Beylin Fist.

"Probably off flirting," Chi-yun said with a frown.

Before the gossip could begin in earnest, Chao Xin himself appeared. "What's up? Did I miss anything?"

"Not yet, but you're late," Mei-Mei reprimanded him.

Chao Xin waved her and the others off. "It's because I had to go multiple blocks out of my way-"

"Because your latest favored fan-girl lives down that road?" interjected Chi-yun.

"Would you let me finish?" Now even Chao Xin was annoyed. "I was _saying_ it's because they have the entire street with the crevice Aguma made last night cordoned off with crime scene tape. It seems that Pluto himself is investigating the matter. We'll have to take the back entrance to our home."

Upon arriving at their house via the back alley, they nearly jumped back out the door when they found Aguma and Bao were sitting on their sofa drinking tea. Bao raised an eyebrow at their expressions. "I'd say you're late, but we're actually early."

"And we brought our own tea, so don't look so stressed, Dashan," Aguma spoke gruffly.

The leader of Wang Hu Zhong narrowed his eyes at the former bladers of the Beylin Fist, but didn't press the issue of their unexpected entrance any further. There was an awkward silence before anyone spoke.

"It's too risky for all of you to fight the shades around here. Not with Pluto and his men camped out on your front steps," Bao reasoned. "Therefore we will take you to the outskirts of Hong Kong. Since I figure most of the shades will be congregated here to set a trap for me that will be the safer option, especially because your powers have not yet awoken."

Yet there was one simple problem with this solution. "Hang on a minute," Chi-yun spoke up. "If Pluto and his cronies are waiting here for you, Bao, won't they get the slightest bit suspicious if the entire area is silent tonight?"

Chao Xin warmed to the theory of the former Lacerta blader. "And once they hear reports of a 'Crimson Flash' over on the outskirts by us, won't they come on over to capture or kill you and anyone in cahoots with you?"

"And what about Aguma?" asked Mei-Mei. "Don't they know about him too?"

Aguma held up one hand to stem their tirade of questions. Bao then began to answer them in chronological order. "Yes, yes, and no. However, I will not be with you all when you attempt to awaken your powers. My power and identity as 'The Crimson Flash' is common knowledge to Pluto. Normally I would consider this a problem, but for once my infamy to Nemesis' side actually works to our advantage. For example, Pluto currently believes 'The Crimson Flash' is the sole disturber in the area. It's all thanks to the fact that everything Aguma and I do is under the cover of darkness, so they never suspect there is anyone in the shadows. Only I with my red light stand out."

"As long as 'The Crimson Flash' is present at my earthquakes, their theory is as good as proved," Aguma finished.

Dashan's mouth quirked into a slight smile. "A wise plan. Bao will be in the area, able to come to our aid if Aguma is forced to use his own powers."

Bao set down his now-empty tea cup and crossed one leg over the other, his arms also crossed. He closed his eyes in a smug demeanor. "I can only hope that will not happen." His eyes snapped open and his posture changed; he leaned forward to eye up Team Wang Hu Zhong. "If word ever reaches Pluto that there are more people with powers, our problems will multiply. For now, we have our hands full enough dealing with the shades here in Hong Kong. If any more are sent before we can get your powers unlocked, we may very well be killed before we can make a difference in this world."

Dashan thought that over. "Make a difference in this world. What are we waiting for?"

With that, the four Beylin Temple bladers followed their Beylin Fist counterparts out into the rapidly darkening city of Hong Kong.

After a few minutes, Bao waved them off, and Aguma led the others the rest of the way. "A stakeout place has already been prepared," he mentioned as he led them into an abandoned building. He, Dashan, Chi-yun, Chao Xin and Mei-Mei rested on the threadbare blankets provided until it was completely dark out.

"Come. Now is the time." Aguma peeked out the door; the coast was clear. "Take up back to back defensive positions."

The four shuffled into order.

"Now we watch." Aguma backed into the darkest shadows, appearing to vanish completely.

The four team members were surprisingly calm, even as a lone shade approached. Then it made a dash for Chi-yun.

"Aaaaah!" the young former blader shrieked, his earlier confidence vanishing in the face of danger.

 _What is Aguma doing?_ Dashan thought, panicking. He stepped in front of the smaller blader and took up the stance of the solid iron wall. A faint rumbling in the earth was heard. Was Aguma finally making his move?

The crust split in two, but instead of swallowing the shade whole it gushed lava from itself, which flowed toward the shade and burned it to a crisp, disrupting its form and forcing it to return to the black sun from whence it had originated.

Dashan held his now trembling hands before his face in shock. "I did this?"

Chao Xin slapped his leader on the back. "That's right Dashan. Man, that was amazing!"

"It was all for Chi-yun," Dashan said as he turned to face the youngest member of his team. "Wait. Where did he go?"

There was only an empty space where the former Lacerta blader once stood. By now, Aguma had un-melded himself from the shadows and made his way over.

"Quiet everyone!" Mei-Mei announced. Silence fell. "Do you hear that?" she asked.

A small high-pitched noise could be heard. Then Chi-yun miraculously appeared in front of them. "Geez Mei-Mei, you almost stepped on me!"

Aguma gave a short laugh. "Well what do you know, both of you unlocked your powers in one night. And you were never in any real danger either."

Dashan lifted his hands before his own amazed eyes once again. "I can turn rock to lava and swallow up shades."

"And I can change my size," Chi-yun added.

Chao Xin frowned. "Dashan, you had Rock Zurafa, and your Crushing Blast used flames, correct?"

Dashan nodded.

"Well that makes sense. But what about Chi-yun's size changing power? That can't be based off his bey."

Mei-Mei suddenly giggled. "Size. It's because Lacerta is a giant lizard and Chi-yun here is so short!" She broke off laughing. Chi-yun yelled at her all the while.

Aguma added in his own comments, more for the sake of Dashan and Chao Xin, as the other two were having their own argument. "Perhaps Bao and I thought this through too quickly. Maybe there is another factor to consider along with our powers. Our beys may only be one piece of the puzzle, albeit a big one."

Dashan thought for a brief moment before reaching out one hand to Aguma. "Today was a great success. I am certain that if we keep up the good work, we will find the missing pieces and complete this puzzle. With the help of you and Bao of course. And one day, we will end this dark reign of Nemesis."

Aguma gave a real smile then and grasped the hand Dashan offered in his large grip. "Together."

xXxXx

The applause heard up and down the 'parade' route up to the Empire State Building was clearly unenthusiastic. All the citizens of New York had done as Herschel had commanded and lined the streets as Cycnus and Keyser entered with their entourages. Present at the front row of the crowed, but far from the route's end, were Masamune, Toby and Zeo, clapping with great lackluster as first Keyser and his cronies from Philadelphia drove past.

Toby more than the others paid attention to the vehicles that drove by. Keyser was acting like this was a regular good old-fashioned parade, smiling and waving at the half-hearted clapping of the crowds from his seat at the back of a red convertible. The hooded and cloaked figure in the passenger seat, however, seemed strict and grim in comparison.

Toby frowned slightly, wondering what was up with this guy. Clearly all the other henchmen from Philadelphia were in the less-extravagant cars following behind the convertible; none of them were hiding their faces. Before he could form any coherent ideas about this, though, Cycnus of Boston was coming along the route. The person in the passenger seat of his vehicle did not have his features veiled by any cloak or hood. As he carefully watched the following cars, a flash of color caught his eye, and a teenaged face could clearly be seen looking out the window of the car. A very familiar teenager: Damian Hart.

At that moment, Toby's clapping involuntarily stopped. What in the world was going on here?

xXx

Damian had on his usual bored expression as he glanced out the window. That was, until he saw the former Faust alongside his former teammate and one of the Gan Gan Galaxy guys. The annoying one. As Damian turned away, a smirk took its place on his formerly blank face. Perhaps this social visit would not be quite as boring as he had expected.

As his car pulled up to the Empire State Building and stopped so he and the others could get out and unload, Damian always kept an eye on Cycnus. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something about this whole situation was simply off. As the day gave way to the evening, all the higher-ups gathered for a grandiose banquet supplied by Herschel, taking place on the lowest level of the Empire State Building. Damian sat near Herschel, Cycnus and Keyser in order to keep an eye on them in case of some problem requiring his particular skill set.

His mind was certainly being tested this day. All his senses were on high alert; one eye on the three leaders of the great cities and the other on the still-veiled figure across from him. _Why is he the only one hiding his face?_ Damian thought to himself, watching all the other men – and even a few women – in the room who were talking and beginning to get rowdy as the free flowing alcohol took over their systems. Damian stared for a few seconds into his own untouched glass. Though rules about drinking age had gone out the door thanks to the arrival of Nemesis, the former Kerbecs blader chose not to muddle his senses, preferring to stay alert and sentinel. He noted the veiled figure across from him appeared to have the same idea.

As wine and other liquor flowed, the noise level rose. By now it was dark outside. Damian himself had eaten his fill hours ago, but his coworkers and the other emissaries had unleashed their inner party animals. Honestly, the whole 'buddy buddy friendship' thing was making him want to puke. If he hadn't the need to pay attention to the general going-ons in the hall, he would have sat back, crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and shaken his head in disgust.

The revelries carried on into the early hours of the morning, and still there was no suspicious activity from anyone in the room. The three leaders had sobered up and were discussing trade agreements at the head of the table while their subordinates carried on. Until… there! Herschel had subtly raised one hand in the air, on the pretext of gesturing about something, no doubt.

Suddenly, the catwalks surrounding the main room were crawling with darkly outfitted people wielding high powered weapons. "Hands up everyone," Herschel barked at Cycnus, Keyser and their assembled followers.

"But why did you do this Herschel?" asked Keyser.

"You already have all of New York City. What more do you want?" Cycnus added.

"I want all of America," Herschel said, clenching his hands into fists.

"Even though the west is completely desolate?" Keyser asked incredulously.

Herschel frowned. "Why aren't you groveling at my feet begging not to be killed instead of asking such stupid questions?"

"Look Herschel, if you and your people stand down, we'll consider not reporting your infractions and attempted coup to Master Rago. We all know what would happen if the mouthpiece of Nemesis told our dark lord what exactly you planned to do," Cycnus said.

Herschel absolutely shook with rage. " _Attempted_ coup? I've already won!" He turned to face his men on the catwalks above their heads, stepping back from his two fellow American city heads. "Fine then. I will let them die in their foolish insolence."

The first gunshots rang out in the silent room, but the bullets never reached their intended targets. A large three-headed dog had appeared in front of Cycnus, absorbing the bullets intended for him, while the veiled man had jumped in front of Keyser. Somehow, the bullets simply pinged right off his skin, though they tore easily through his cloak. As the shreds of cloak fell from the person, his hood slipped off as well. Damian noted that his skin gleamed with a metallic sheen.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! That was fun! Now what do you say Keyser? Can I carve them all up into beautiful works of art?" The guy's arms looked as if the skin on the back of his hand toward his wrist extended and then hardened into solid-looking knives over the back his hand. Damian was reminded of a blade that could be hidden on the arm and then pulled out at will; but this was a part of the person. And if those words were not enough, Damian could now see the person's face clearly – his other former teammate, Jack.

xXxXx

Crossing another desolate landscape in the midst of the savannah, Demure recognized a giant pit that still stood out, even with the ravaging this place had taken from the black sun. "Yes, this is definitely the place," Demure said, more to himself than his companion. After a few more minutes of walking, he and Benkei came upon a city. Or rather, what was left of it. Most of the buildings had fallen to rubble thanks to the black sun, and its streets were completely deserted of people. _Where did they all go? Away? Or were they killed by shades?_ Demure thought.

He then spoke out loud to Benkei, "We should be able to find some food around here somewhere. Let's check the few buildings standing at least."

Benkei nodded. "What is this place, Demure? I thought I saw a bey stadium still standing in this town."

"This is the place it all started, Rock City, in the country of Savannah, where Team Wild Fang was born," Demure replied reverently. "The pit you saw a while back was the place I earned my spot on the team thanks to Kyoya and Nile. They used my eyes to find this guy named Marcus who had cheated them out of their bracelets in an unfair situation. After I pointed him out and they defeated him and his two friends in battle, Kyoya told me if I held onto the bracelet, I was worthy of being on the team with him and Nile."

Benkei had listened to the whole story with rapt attention. Of course he would, seeing as Kyoya was in it. "B-b-b-bull! Let's set up camp here for the week!"

Impulsive as ever. But it made sense to hole up for a bit. Rock City was in the middle of nowhere, so there was no reason for shades to be skulking around during the dark hours. Or light hours either for that matter.

Demure shrugged. "Fine with me. Let's look for a good place." He set off in one direction while Benkei took another. As he walked the deserted streets of Rock City, he noted a few markets that still appeared to have relatively fresh food. "Huh," the former Scorpio blader muttered. "If this city has been deserted since Nemesis' original destruction, there's no way this much good food would be in the market all these weeks later."

Demure tossed a slightly shriveled vegetable in his hand. For in truth, over a month had now passed since the appearance of the black sun. If anything, wandering the earth was even easier now than in the beginning. The plant life had begun to finally grow back, sparsely in the most devastated areas, but in earnest on the soil untouched by the toxin of the black sun. This produce in the market – only a few days old at most – proved that someone had been here in Rock City, and recently at that. Now, to figure out if that someone was still in the immediate vicinity.

He scoured the area but found no one except Benkei, who was busy hoarding food. The former Bull blader claimed it was for both of them, but Demure knew better than to believe Benkei when it came to food. "I guess the area is clear," Demure said.

"Clear? Why ever not?" asked Benkei. He, sadly, had spent much of his time ogling the remains of the bey stadium before hunger overtook his body and he discovered some food.

Demure sighed and explained his theory about the fresh food.

"Hmm… You're right buddy. We should search the area again. We'll be completely thorough this time. Let's meet up here in two hours to exchange information."

Demure nodded. About half the time into searching, he saw something on the ground move out of the corner of his eye. Turning fully to face it, however, he saw nothing. Except… Yes, there was a manhole cover slightly ajar. Walking over to investigate, he pushed it and noticed it led to a sort of tunnel system which led to an underground shelter of sorts; and it was stockpiled to the brim with nonperishable food items!

Demure laughed out loud. He and Benkei could live in here for months! But as he rushed to tell his friend, a hand clamped around his arm and dragged him back.

"Now what have we here?" a jeering voice asked.

* * *

 **So what did you think? Any guesses on what will happen to Herschel? How about who Demure ran into? Let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Greetings! Thank you so much to those who reviewed last chapter. I hope you will like this one as well; it's the longest one yet! In this chapter, plots continue and new characters arrive.**

* * *

"Let it rip!" The crowd roared as Argo and Ian launched their beys at each other.

Gingka and the others had had no problem whatsoever getting in to the event. They all wore baseball caps to hide their faces somewhatly, and there wasn't even any security to go through, so they figured just anybody was allowed to enter the stadium – even Legendary Bladers who opposed the rule of Nemesis. So now he, Tsubasa, Madoka, Kenta, Hikaru, Yu and Yuki were taking up a row in Tokyo Stadium.

"It's been ages!" shouted Yu excitedly.

Even Kenta - who had been depressed since Ryuga's defeat and subsequent death at the hands of Rago and Nemesis - cracked a smile. It certainly was good to see a bey battle again.

"Who should we root for?" Yuki asked.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot – you never met the Garcias," Madoka said. "I'm rooting for Ian. Never did like Argo…"

Tsubasa sighed. "Seriously Madoka? We have to pick sides?"

"For the sake of the sport!" she exclaimed.

Gingka joined in the conversation, "Everyone has to have a favorite. A team, a person, in this case a blader. Otherwise the sport is not a sport."

This time it was Hikaru who sighed. "Seriously you two? I think your argument is lacking in logic."

"Hey, _you_ try going to a sporting event and not rooting for anyone," Yu countered.

Hikaru thought for a moment. "You do have a point. Whoo! Go Argo!"

Madoka shot her a look.

"What? If I don't know anyone on the team, I always cheer for the one I know will win," Hikaru retorted.

And win he did. Ian's usual tactics did not work against his brother because they were not battling in a cyclone stadium and so the battle – which honestly would have been a lot shorter if Argo hadn't toyed around with Cyclone Herculeo so much – was decided.

"And the winner is Argo and his Ray Gil!" It seemed that in the midst of their arguing, the friends had missed the fact that Blader DJ had also made a reappearance as the announcer of the bey battle.

As Argo and Ian left the stage, up came Enzo and Selen. But who were they battling, as they came and stood together at one end of the stadium? Gingka scratched his head in confusion.

"This is it folks," Blader DJ began. "The last bey battle begins now!"

"What?" screeched Gingka and Yu. They wanted more exciting battles, not just two. Of course, they had to recall that nearly everyone had opposed Nemesis' rule and therefore their beys had vanished into thin air.

"Enzo and Selen Garcia versus our very own Johannes!"

The kitty cat appeared from backstage and walked up the steps to the bey stadium. Though quite eccentric, their leader was genuinely fair and just in his ruling – as long as you did not break the curfew you had little to worry about. Conditions were also almost normal – electricity was available whenever and there was a good variety as far as food choices were concerned. Citizens of Tokyo had heard horrendous rumors of other cities where conditions were far worse – not to mention stories of those trying to wander outside of the few cities remaining. Yes, they heard wandering led to death either by the shades or due to starvation.

"Two on one? What is Johannes hoping to accomplish by this?" Tsubasa said to the others.

Yu shrugged. "Complete and utter humiliation?"

Kenta smirked.

"And now the battle is about to begin!" Blader DJ announced with his usual enthusiasm. "Three, two, one, let it rip!" Beat Lynx and the two Gasher beys entered the stadium.

"The Garcias have launched a pincer attack, but Lynx just raises its spin track. Oh my! Selen and Enzo seem to be arguing with each other, as they just crashed their beys into each other thanks to that missed attack."

Yu was snickering while the others continued to watch intently.

"Amazing! Johannes just snuck Lynx up behind the Garcias and knocked them out of the stadium. What a quick victory for our leader!" Blader DJ must have received extra pay for that slight Nemesis propaganda at the end.

Meanwhile, Gingka and the others were not amused.

"Seriously? That wasn't even five minutes," the former Pegasus blader moaned, drooping in his seat. Yu and Kenta had assumed similar poses, and Tsubasa, Madoka, Yuki and Hikaru looked annoyed, but were slightly less theatrical about it.

Johannes turned to the crowd and was passed a microphone by an aide. "Never fear folks, I have more entertainment for you! Argo, as you may know, is the ruler of Sparta, Greece, under the rule of our lord Nemesis, and has taken advantage of his prestigious position to return to us an old Roman sport – gladiator fighting!"

Everyone was quiet for a second before one person in the audience yelled out "Yea-yeah!" Then, slowly at first, the cheers turned into a thundering roar.

Madoka on the other hand was nervous. "People are going to kill each other?"

"Or animals," Tsubasa put in. "They did that in ancient Rome also."

"I'm not really sure what to think," Yu said through a mouthful of popcorn.

"Hey, when did you get that?" asked Hikaru. He hadn't been eating a minute ago, after all.

"The guy behind us dropped it in shock at the gladiator announcement, so I picked it up. Can't let good food go to waste now, can we?"

Hikaru sighed as Argo introduced two random people. "A fight to the death or until one yields," he announced.

"Well that's a relief," Madoka choked out.

"Yeah, who would choose to die instead of yielding," Yuki put in.

"Someone like Gingka," Kenta muttered just loud enough for the redhead to overhear.

"Hey, I wouldn't participate in a gladiator fight!" he shouted.

"Too loud," sighed Tsubasa. Not that it mattered. By now, the psychos in the audience had been joined by everyone else in shouting for blood. No wonder Argo's enterprise was such a success: most everyone in Nemesis' new world had acquired a sort of bloodlust after all they had gone through. And sure enough, after about twenty minutes of fighting, one yielded to the other, unwilling to go to his death for sport.

After two more such matches, the girls were sick of the sport, Yu was complaining about his now-empty popcorn, Yuki and Kenta were playing tic-tac-toe in the grime on the floor ignoring the entire thing, and Tsubasa and Gingka were watching the fight, semi-interested.

"Can we go yet?" Madoka pestered the elder boys.

"And be the first to go?" asked Gingka.

"That would look suspicious," Tsubasa noted.

"Fine then, we'll stay. But I'm not happy about it," Hikaru said.

Madoka nodded in agreement.

Argo was speaking again, saying, "Now for the final match, which will be different from the others. Man versus beast!" The crowd roared. "So for your entertainment, I now present the King of Beasts-"

A drumroll began, and Gingka had a sudden vision of Kyoya running in with Leone's spirit-lion at his side.

But what came out of the tunnel was merely a normal lion, which roared as the audience cheered. "Versus the former Legendary Blader known as King!"

Gingka and Tsubasa gaped, Madoka and Hikaru gasped, Yu forgot all about his popcorn, and Yuki and Kenta stopped in mid-game; all said the same thing: "King?"

Sure enough, the Greek emerged from the tunnel armed solely with a sword and shield, looking exactly as he had when the gang had first met and gotten to know him. All of them were wondering the same thing: How had King become a pawn in Argo's gladiator games?

As the stunned group watched and the rest of the crowd replied to Argo's latest statement with an even louder roar, King raised his sword over his head with a serious look on his face, shouting, "That's right, I am the king of the arena!"

The lion jumped at him, but the former Variares blader simply sidestepped its attack and buffered its shoulder a blow with his shield.

"Wow, King's pretty good," Yu said with a grin.

King leapt after the lion and struck it a blow with his sword as it was off balance. The beast roared again, as did the crowd as they saw red glisten in the path King's sword had taken over the lion's body.

"Oh, the poor creature," moaned Hikaru, who had always been sensitive to violence since Battle Bladers.

"Poor creature? That thing's trying to kill our friend!" was all Gingka had to say regarding that.

King struck the lion another glancing blow, but it just turned and struck out with a paw. King quickly pulled up his shield to protect himself just in the nick of time. He stumbled backward from the force of the impact, but managed to stay on his feet.

"Come on King!" Gingka shouted. But his voice was lost amongst the yells of the crowd.

The lion began a charge dead on toward the human in front of it. King leaped into the air and came down slamming his shield on the beast's head. The lion fell over – out cold. The crowd was silent with disappointment for a bit – there had been no highly-anticipated death – but then cheered. Gingka and the others cheered loudest of all.

"Leave it to King to find a way to end the fight with no death at all," Kenta said.

Gingka just scratched his head. "Still, how did King get into this whole business anyhow?" The object of their conversation was now walking backstage while still waving to the applauding audience.

"Well, King did live in Greece," Madoka recalled. "Perhaps when all the bladers were scattered across the world, he ended up back there."

"Place of origin?" Yuki pondered. "Wait, you could be on to something Madoka! We all ended up in Japan and found each other. Gingka walked over to our campsite from Koma Village after all. Could it be that we were all sent back to the place we came from? Or when everyone first met each other and the journey to destroy the Dark Nebula, Hades Inc., and finally Nemesis, began?" After all, Nemesis' followers traced their origins all the way back to the Doji and the Dark Nebula.

Tsubasa's eyes widened. "What a thought! Surely other friends of ours would be here in Japan if that theory is true."

Gingka gasped. "Then we should be able to find Kyoya and Benkei. They should be at the old Face Hunters hangout according to your theory Yuki."

"We could come back in to town tomorrow to look for them at the warehouses," Kenta put in. "It's already beginning to darken out, so we need to head back to our camp before the shades come out."

Gingka and the others nodded. It was a plan.

xXxXx

"Huh. So you also have powers, Damian," said Jack. "And here I thought I was the only one. No matter; with my powers, I cut and create beautiful works of art."

"Well with my powers I bring Hades to you," Damian told him. "Instead of the opposite, as I did with my Kerbecs' special move, Open Hades Gate."

Jack's smirk grew bigger. His reply to his former teammate, though, was cut off by Keyser. "Jack, don't forget yourself. Now is the time for amends, not more destruction."

"It's not destruction, I create art!" the former Befall blader moaned.

Damian put a hand to his head as the three-headed dog he had summoned disappeared. After his art rant, Jack too calmed down and his powers left him, leaving his body as normal as ever. _If you could_ ever _call him normal_ , thought Damian.

"Keyser is right. We must rekindle the bonds of companionship we once felt," said Cycnus. "I propose to hold such an event in my own city of Boston in exactly one week. It is never too soon to fix this problem."

Keyser joined in, adding, "Right. I second the motion. Let us not forget we are the vassals of Rago, who serves Nemesis himself. It would look bad if we failed to keep peace amongst ourselves."

Herschel winced, knowing the wrath of Rago and then Nemesis would be fierce indeed. "Forgive me, friends. I forgot my place in this world momentarily. It shall not happen again."

"Then it is agreed. We meet in Boston next week," Cycnus finished.

"We will meet again then, Damian," Jack replied, swooshing his torn cloak as he walked off with Keyser. The issues at hand would clearly have to be handled in a week.

"Come Damian, let us take our leave as well," Cycnus beckoned.

Damian closed his eyes and concentrated really hard. Soon all the damages were repaired; it was as though nothing had happened at all to the Empire State Building. Then he took his leave with Cycnus.

"I have _got_ to get me someone like those two," mused Herschel. "Wait a minute… Yes, that's it!"

 **The Next Day**

"Ugh, the alarm is going off already?" moaned Masamune.

"Stop complaining." Toby slammed the alarm to turn it off.

Zeo yawned. "It's five o'clock, time to get ready for work."

The three ate their cereal dry – with their rations and low pay at the factory, there was no way they could afford milk. They changed and left their house at 5:40 am. It was exactly a fifteen minute walk to their job, so that gave them five minutes to get their stuff locked away and get set up for work. This day, though, was different. Three buff, official-looking government guys were waiting at the door.

"Don't tell me it's an inspection day," muttered Zeo. Those days were the worst; the bosses worked them extra hard to prove that the business was profitable and well-functioning.

Each man clutched pieces of paper and were handing them out to workers as they walked in. Masamune, Zeo and Toby's eyes widened when they saw what was on the papers.

"All former bladers report to the Empire State Building immediately…?" Toby read.

"Oh yeah! No boring work for us today!" Masamune shouted as he ran toward Herschel's headquarters. His two friends sighed and trailed after him much more slowly.

"Wonder what this is about," Zeo commented.

"We're about to find out," Toby replied.

When they reached the Empire State Building, they found themselves at the end of a moderately long line. "Rounding up former bladers, huh," Zeo mused. As he and the others watched, the people in front of them entered the building, stayed in for only a few seconds, and then came back out a side door with dejected looks on their faces.

"Well, it looks like this won't take much time, whatever it is," Toby pointed out.

Masamune sighed. "Too bad. I was hoping to miss work today."

Soon it was their turns; the line had moved along rapidly. Masamune walked into the room and saw Herschel at a desk in front of a computer, surrounded by some of his goons. "Name please."

"Masamune Kadoya," he replied.

Herschel looked up with a start. "Team Gan Gan Galaxy?" he queried.

"Yep, that's me. The world's best number one blader!"

 _Well that may not be true, but he was still strong_ , Herschel thought. "Yes yes. You're the man for my latest job opening. Come right this way. These men here-" he gestured at two of his goons, "-will escort you to your new quarters."

"New quarters? Does this mean I have a new job?" Masamune asked. Apparently he hadn't caught Herschel's previous statement.

"Yes indeed Kadoya. You work for me now," Herschel answered with a smile. "I'm sure this job will be more… entertaining… than your dull assembly line work."

"Cool!" Masamune exclaimed. "But what about my friends?"

Just then, Zeo walked in the door. Herschel tuned out the excitable former Striker blader's jabbering and asked his question. "Name?"

"Zeo Abyss."

"From Starbreaker?"

"Correct."

"All right, go ahead and join Masamune over there." Next, in came Toby. "Name?"

"Toby."

Herschel tapped his pen on the desk. "No last name?"

"Uh… well… I lost some of my memories. Perhaps you know me as Faust."

"Ah right, the Spiral Force guy. Well in that case, join your two friends over there." _Well well well, now I have three former bladers in my potential arsenal_ , thought Herschel. _Surely at least one of them will shape up like Damian or Jack._ "Well now, show them to their rooms. Their new jobs will begin immediately after they have settled in." Herschel chuckled as his goons scurried off to do his bidding and show the three former bladers to their rooms. He'd finish up these interviews, but doubted he would find anyone else with the potential of those three. Yes, very soon he'd have his own personal guard of teens with powers. And three at that! Now, all that was left to do was find out how to awaken their powers. That is, provided they hadn't already done so.

xXxXx

"Oh, it's you. The guy from the Savannah tournament." The hand grabbing Demure's arm turned him around to get a good look at him.

"It's you, Marcus," Demure said simply. "So… You don't by any chance still have your bey, do you?"

Marcus' gaze hardened. "No. It disappeared nearly two months ago. I've been hiding out in these tunnels ever since the world first went dark.

"So you must be the one who stockpiled all this food," Demure deduced.

"That's right. And I don't plan on sharing," he retorted. "Now that you've seen my hideout, I can't just allow you to leave. You'll find your two little friends and come back with them to steal all my hard-earned food!"

 _Two friends?_ Thought Demure. _That's right! He must be thinking of Kyoya and Nile. Well, I may not have those two, but I've got Benkei. What he lacks as far as brains, he makes up for with brute strength._ "You can't just kill me, Marcus. Even you wouldn't do something like that."

"Not directly I wouldn't, but say I tied you up and 'forgot' about you outside during the dark hours."

"It's still the same as murder."

"Not in my book. And you have left me no choice." With one strong push, he knocked the former Scorpio blader into a wall – he was out cold. Just as he was getting rope in preparation of tying his victim up though, he was confronted by a noise near the manhole cover Demure had earlier entered. _Shoot, I forgot to cover that up,_ he thought, staying silent in hopes that whichever friend of Demure's had come along would soon leave.

The person by the manhole cover, however, had different ideas. The cover was lifted away, and a voice came down saying "I smell food!"

Footsteps followed, and Marcus prepared to challenge whoever he faced. "Hey you, this is _my_ food, so stay away!" He gaped when he saw the huge guy in front of him. "Who are you? You're not Kyoya or Nile, so explain what you're doing with this guy." He gestured to Demure.

Benkei did not answer the question, but he positively glowed. "You know Kyoya? And Nile? Where are they? Tell me at once!"

"What? How am I to know?" Marcus spat. "Now scram while you still can."

That was when Benkei spotted Demure unconscious on the ground. "What have you done to my friend?"

"He was about to steal my food. And now you are as well. I have no other option than to eliminate the two of you."

"Not on my watch!" Benkei shouted, always loud for no real reason at all. "I challenge you to an arm wrestling competition. May the strongest man win!"

Marcus ground his teeth. He had planned on this guy charging him and falling through the tarp on the ground into the sewers below, but that clearly would not happen. "Fine. But I guarantee you won't win."

Benkei stared down at his opponent grimly. _So this was the guy that tried to cheat my buddy Kyoya out of the World Championships!_ Tears formed in his eyes. _For his sake, I too will pay him back; just like he and Nile did in the selection tournament! Oh, and rescue Demure,_ he added as an afterthought.

The two seated themselves at a table in the room and prepared to do battle. "Three, two, one, go!" they shouted in sync. And so the competition began. They strained and struggled, but neither gave an inch. After nearly five minutes of this, both were panting for breath and struggling to keep their arm muscles contracted.

"Ha ha! I've got you now," Marcus managed to gasp out.

"No!" Benkei felt his arm slipping down. "I will not loooooooose!" A burst of superhuman strength flooded through his being at that very moment. With a cry of "For Kyoya!" he up-righted his arm and crashed Marcus' hand into the table, which snapped upon the tremendous impact.

Marcus must have either broken several bones or gotten a brain hemorrhage from trying too hard, because he promptly passed out and dropped to the floor.

"Oh yeah! Victory is mine!" Benkei crowed, not wondering for a second how he had managed to do such a feat of strength. Now all he had to do was wait for Demure to wake up. Then he could show his teammate their epic new hideout. Now… how to dispose of Marcus…

xXxXx

In the lush, fertile plains which stretched on for miles without end lay a beautiful villa. Under closer surveillance, one might almost call it deserted, not counting a few workers who came and went to tend to the farm to its south. However, there was no such closer surveillance to do so in the first place. So life around the villa went on as usual; workers came at sunrise and worked until nearly dark, allotting themselves just enough time to get home before the shades wandered the grounds.

The shades, though, could not be considered surveillance. No suspicious activity had ever occurred around the villa for the two months Nemesis had ruled, and so the shades' numbers dwindled lower and lower in the area until it was surprising for even one to show up and stay. It would merely pass through on its way to another more populated location.

Walking through the halls of the villa, its owner went about his business as he normally would, sitting calmly at his desk much of the day, filing papers on the profits and various expenses of running the farm that was connected to his mansion. He smiled. It was certainly a profitable enterprise. Food in Europe was scarce thanks to Rago's iron-fisted rule over the continent. Someone had to take care of the needs of the people, and obviously he would be the one to soar to the top of this new world. After all, it was his duty as the heir of the Konzern family.

As the sun set, Julian Konzern stared out the window for a long moment before moving to an inner room in his villa mansion. With no windows in this room, he was safe from the prying eyes of any who ventured out into the night. Pulling a book from the shelf, Julian smiled as the floor beneath his feet trembled and the bookcase slid to the side with a slight creaking noise.

Calmly, the former Destroyer blader descended the steps grimly lit every twenty meters or so by LED lights. He picked up his headset with an attached microphone on his way down and took his place at his usual circular table, which had a very complicated-looking radio device resting on it, along with a state-of-the-art computer. One flip of a switch, an iris-scan and a password later, Julian was logged on to the system. A few seconds later, a light blinked over the map of the world. His dot near Rome, Italy, was glowing brightly. Soon a dot appeared in the Welsh countryside of the United Kingdom. Another appeared in southern Germany, and a final fourth dot appeared just outside of Paris, France.

"Well members, it seems we have all assembled," Julian began. "I've been working on the food situation here at my location among other things. How are things going on your end, Lancelot?"

"The going is rough so near to the enemy's capital, Arthur," the voice of Wales came over the radio. "My main mission has been providing safe houses for the citizens fleeing his tyrannical rule."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence before Sophie's voice came over the radio, giving her report. "King Arthur, I have been keeping tabs on the media as you asked me, and it does seem that there is something brewing in the east. There are rumors running all over the former country of China about a 'Crimson Flash' appearing, slaying shades, and then disappearing, leaving only fissures in the ground as proof that he was actually there at all."

"Excellent scouting Tristan," Julian commended Sophie using her code name. It was imperative that they keep their true identities hidden, keeping their outward appearances as model citizens during the day in stark contrast to their secret underground meetings during the night. This was crucial for the survival of their black market of sorts, code named Round Table Enterprises. "Anything on your end, Gawain?" he now asked Klaus.

A discouraged sigh came through the line. "Same old same old. I'm not used to running a farm, Arthur. I'd rather go out and smash the enemy to smithereens."

"Your strength is a great asset, Gawain, but the time to fight is not now," Sophie replied. "I'm certain that Lancelot, like myself, has been preparing as well."

"Of course, Tristan," Wales assured her. He had been out at the nearby sea coast smashing shades against the cliffs with waves the previous night. But that was nothing in the scheme of things. Merely sending shades to recharge at their source, the black sun, would not suffice forever. That was why he and the others had these bi-weekly meetings each Wednesday and Saturday night.

"On my end, Project Galahad is already underway," Julian told his fellow Round Table members. Another silence passed over the group. "Well, if that's it, we'd best get some sleep the rest of the night." Leading double lives got to be exhausting, hence why the four only spoke twice a week. "King Arthur signing out."

As they hung up, an air of excitement hung in the air. The other former bladers were also waking their powers, slowly but surely. This 'Crimson Flash' in China was evidence enough of that. Once enough of the others found their inner powers, Project Galahad could commence and they would all unite to rid the world of Rago and smite his lord Nemesis once and for all.

* * *

 **So Julian Konzern and co. arrive on the scene. What will happen next?**

 **Next chapter: Two eagerly anticipated characters are finally introduced. See what they have been up to during the apocalypse next week!**


	5. Chapter 5

The friends had risen at the crack of dawn to prepare for their second trip into town in as many days. Gingka was getting super pumped to see his old rival again. Kenta was tearing up at the thought of seeing Benkei again as well.

"I just hope they're doing fine wherever they are," Madoka voiced.

Hikaru on the other hand remained the voice of skepticism. "Look everyone, don't go getting your hopes up. Yuki's theory may have a certain amount of validity, but we don't exactly know where Benkei and Kyoya came from before their history with the Facehunters. For all we know, they may have ended up back in their hometowns like Gingka and Koma Village."

"True, he didn't wind up in the same place as us," Tsubasa pondered.

"Aw… you guys are being no fun," pouted Yu with a shrug. "Who cares if we don't have this whole thing figured out? We just need to get out there and find them! Or anyone else for that matter!"

"Well said, Yu," was Gingka's reply. "You ready Yuki?" he asked one of the two group members who had not spoken yet.

"Ready."

"Then let's hit the road!"

Yet again, getting into the city posed no problem. Johannes must not have spent much on security. Tsubasa had no trouble believing that after seeing the extravagant display the previous day. Half of his budget for the month must have gone toward that display.

Through the city they walked, each with a hat on to ensure no one saw their identities, especially Gingka with his flaming red hair. The former Pegasus blader led the group along with Kenta, both recalling the unfavorable circumstances that led to their first meeting with the Facehunters and their leader.

 _Soon, very soon, we'll find out just how much of my theory is true,_ was all Yuki could think.

"This way," Gingka beckoned. The group walked into a certain warehouse and gasped at the sight they beheld. About twenty or more teens were hanging out, but they didn't look too well. The depressed looks on their faces was only one symbol of this.

"What you lookin' at?" one of them growled half-heartedly at the group of seven who stood before them.

Kenta stepped forward. "We're looking for Benkei and Kyoya. Have you seen them since all this-" he waved his hand around, "went down?"

Most of the teens looked at them blankly, but two stepped forward. "We're the only ones left from the original gang," the brown-haired one told them.

"We haven't seen Kyoya or Benkei since they left the gang, not counting their televised appearances during the World Championships," the blond finished.

The group visibly deflated. "There goes my theory," Yuki sighed.

"Sorry we couldn't help," the brown-haired guy said, turning away.

"Well, we'd best be going," said Madoka. "Come on, Gingka. There's nothing left here for us."

"Gingka?" The blond's eyes widened as he noted the red hair semi visible under the hat. "Man, you're the guy that won the World Championships!"

"Hey! We were there too!" Yu yelled, grabbing Tsubasa's arm. The former Eagle blader, while slightly miffed, kept his calm.

The blond kept his eyes fixed on Gingka though. "Hey man, do us a favor. Go out there and beat Nemesis!"

Gingka forced a smile onto his face and gave the guy a thumbs up. "Will do!"

Once out of earshot from the building, he sighed. _How can I do that? We already lost._ He frowned as he recalled the moment of their downfall. It really had been earlier than the others considered it. During their first fight against Nemesis in the South American temple, Zeus' Barrier had been created and almost completed. Until the Legendary Blader of Summer decided to do things his own way. Gingka ground his teeth. How could he ever forgive that guy? Couldn't he see that everyone else was suffering thanks to his inflated ego? Of course not. He got off easy by dying.

Gingka looked up to see that everyone had stopped walking and was staring at him. "What's wrong?" he asked, subtly unclenching his fists.

"You were so deep in thought you never answered Yu's question," Tsubasa told him.

"Yeah. Can we stick around town for a while, pretty please?" the former Libra blader asked again. "Tsubasa and Madoka said the choice is up to you."

The redhead pushed his hat more snugly on top of his hair. "I don't see why not. We all could use some fun."

"Hooray!" Kenta, Yu and Yuki ran off at once.

"Just meet by the gate we came in by at five o'clock sharp!" Hikaru called after them.

"Yeah, yeah," Yu waved them off. "Let's go to the arcade!"

Tsubasa sighed. "There goes our saved up cash."

Madoka looked around and then began to walk off. "I think I'll put my mechanical skills to good use and find a job. We won't always be able to scavenge for food, so _one_ of us needs to become a respectable citizen and start getting an income."

"You know, that sounds like a good idea," Hikaru said, following after the mechanic. "Maybe an office will have an open position for a secretary."

Tsubasa turned to Gingka. "So, you just going to let them keep us financially stable?"

Gingka nodded sadly. "I'm too recognizable. It would never work out. Just because the battle's over doesn't mean Nemesis won't hold a grudge. I'm guessing King is an exception because Argo and the other Garcias are in charge of him. But imagine what would happen if the other Legendary Bladers were discovered plotting against him." Gingka didn't worry too much about Yuki, as he was one of the lesser known Legendary Bladers, and no one off the streets would recognize him. Plus, he highly doubted Johannes himself would walk around trying to root out enemies from his city.

The former Eagle blader tilted his head to one side. "So it's official? You're plotting against him?"

"Well, it's a slow process, but I'm still scavenging things from other towns. And as I go further and further away from our base camp, I can't help but want to end all the destruction and defeat Nemesis. Heh heh. I might even have a superpower."

Tsubasa rolled his eyes. "Of course. Why don't we have a little race back to camp? Then we'll know for sure." He had always been fleeter of foot than Gingka.

"Game on," Gingka said with a grin. The two shook hands and left to have their own fun on their day in the city.

xXxXx

"Take your mark, set, go!" A whistle tweeted as Masamune burst off the starting line in a blur of speed.

"Not bad at all," Herschel mused as the boy completed his first lap in twenty seconds and followed suit with the next three as well. When he slowed to a stop, barely breathing hard, his coach gave him a thumbs up and then tasered him.

"Try harder next time. You're barely out of breath."

"Yes sir!" Masamune replied brightly. He was used to getting shocked by now.

After Herschel had chosen him, Toby and Zeo, explaining that they most likely had powers like Damian and Jack, the three were excited to unlock them. Herschel's methods, however, were rather questionable. The shocking had been excruciating at first, until Masamune felt something within him… expand. He ran from the room and hid, but the team working on him found him again. Instead of berating him, though, they were overjoyed and slapped him on the back. Masamune just went with the flow, only learning through listening to their excited chattering that he had unlocked the power of superspeed.

Five days later here he was, running a chill mile on a conventional 400 meter track at an easy one minute and twenty seconds. Honestly, he was more proficient at the shorter sprints – exerting his newfound power at breakneck speed for longer distances and times was more difficult and required more concentration – but he thought a 1:20 was a respectable time. Still, Herschel demanded more. He trained without end during the twelve light hours of the day and fell to bed exhausted each night.

The same went for Toby and Zeo as well. Toby was in the weight room every day lifting more and more weight with his mind. His telekinesis could nearly support one thousand pounds by now, yet the coaches always pushed him to do better. Zeo was working with his magnetic powers. So far he had progressed from pulling bars of iron across the room to making refrigerators fly through the air. Currently, he was being schooled to create a magnetic shield around not only himself, but others as well. Projectiles of anything metal could not pass the barrier, but carbon bases like wood, along with liquids, and air attacks still left him open and vulnerable, much to Herschel's dismay. Still, three warriors were better than one, like Cycnus and Keyser had, right?

Herschel called all his underlings together for a meeting after the day's training. Masamune, Toby and Zeo were trying not to pass out from exhaustion by the time it was over. Fortunately they caught the important part about leaving the following morning for the big gathering in Boston that Cycnus would be hosting. Rumor had it that some big entertainment would be lined up the day after next.

The three friends retired to the spacious rooms Herschel had provided for them during their stay as his personal bodyguards. "Man, I'm so sore," groaned Masamune.

"My head hurts," moaned Toby.

"Mine too," Zeo agreed. "Now let's get to sleep. Tomorrow we head off to Boston, and all the excitement starts the day after."

Toby yawned. Masamune scratched his head, saying, "I sure hope this will be fun. I mean, now that I've got superpowers, all I want to do is run and run!"

"Technically you have _a_ superpower," corrected Toby.

Masamune waved him off. "But one power is it, right? I mean, Damian and Jack each have one power apiece according to Herschel."

"That doesn't mean there isn't someone else out there," Zeo put in. He leaned in closer, talking in a softer voice. "I heard there's a guy in China who glows red, runs really fast and also makes fissures in the ground that swallow up shades."

The former Striker blader's eyes widened. "Three powers? I've got a lot of catching up to do!"

The other two just shook their heads and went to their separate rooms. At least unlike their old home, they had some respite from Masamune's overly excited persona. Eventually even he settled down for some sleep.

Soon they would see Jack and Damian again. What would the two former Starbreaker members think of their newfound powers?

xXxXx

No living people could be seen for miles and miles. All that remained to show the place had once been civilized at all were their dwellings – most still standing in good condition – and the remnants of skeletons picked clean by scavenging animals, most buried in the desert's scorching sands already.

Two lone figures trudged through the harsh climate toward the towering shapes in the distance – the pyramids. As they approached the huge structures, one asked the other, "So this secret tunnel is at the base of the smallest pyramid, correct?"

The other carefully scrutinized the frail piece of papyrus he held in hand. "Correct. It looks like according to this ancient writing and diagram, we will need 'the power of the stars' in order to reveal the hidden tunnel's entrance at the base of the pyramid."

"Not a problem, Nile," Kyoya said with a smirk. "I'll blow away that desert sand with the tornado powers Leone gave me."

Nile shrugged. "I'd give you a hand, but I somehow feel I'd be intruding in your personal moment."

Kyoya smirked. His friend knew him well. Though the two had been friends nearly two years, he still often thought of himself as the lone lion.

Nile stopped walking and stood in place. "It should be right here."

Kyoya looked up at the pyramid towering over them and then back at the former Horuseus blader. "Right then. You might want to step back. This could get messy." He held his hands out and focused on the area where Nile had just been standing. In the past, he really had to think, imagining the tornados forming where he wanted them, but by now it was almost second nature.

Soon the dust had settled and sure enough, the two could see subtle lines forming the shape of a trap door. Nile cautiously set down the papyrus he held and felt for the seams of the door in the sand. He found slight grooves in the surface – worn by time, the winds and the desert's sands – placed his hands, and lifted.

The door didn't budge. "Guess this is another job for me," Kyoya grinned, cracking his knuckles.

Nile sighed and let the former Leone blader use his second "power of the stars": namely the great strength of a lion.

Kyoya stood up, breathing harder than normal. "Tough one?" Nile asked.

"Yeah. See how the grooves are shaped? Normally a bey's spin would send the door swinging up. In our case, since our beys' powers have transferred to us, it takes a bit of effort to pry open."

"I see." Nile started down the staircase into the depths of the hidden room. Soon, no light from the sun reached them, and the torches that lined the walls, which were covered in stylized murals of sky and earth, as well as scenes from the religion of the ancient Egyptians, had clearly burned out millennia ago.

"Finally, something _I_ can do," Nile spoke into the darkness, creating a small glowing ball in the palm of his upturned hand.

Kyoya smirked. "Mini Mystic Zone shield," he quipped.

Nile's teeth glinted in the dim light, a sign that he had heard what Kyoya chose to call his light-giving technique. Normally Nile's glowing shields encircled the duo at night, giving them time to rest where shades could not break in. It had taken time to develop his shielding to the subconscious level needed for him to maintain their protection while sleeping, but a few weeks after the final fight against Nemesis and the scattering of all the bladers, he was able to pull it off.

The stairs leveled off after a while, and the two continued on into a slightly wider corridor. Nile trickled a bit more power into the sphere in his palm. It expanded slightly and glowed brighter, lighting the corridor better. "Yes, here it is," the Egyptian said, stopping at the end of the hall, where it branched off sharply to the right. The first painting on the wall showed a black sun and darkened earth, much like what was currently occurring in their day and age.

"So it's true," mused Kyoya. "Nemesis really did rule the world before even the time of the blader-warriors Dynamis, Aguma and the others are descended from."

Nile moved his arm slowly to light up the hieroglyphs above the painting, nodding. "I should be able to semi-translate what's going on, but it's been a while since I've looked at writings this old," he warned.

Kyoya grunted. He figured the pictures would be explanation enough. As Nile's glowing sphere lit them up, he saw depictions of the world back then as it was now; covered in darkness – though this darkness seemed to have no light at all, unlike their allotted twelve hours. As they moved along, they saw what looked like white dots encircling the black sun in the sky. In the following mural, the normal sun now shone down. The rest of the panels showed the world back to normal.

Kyoya walked back to where Nile stood at the one confusing panel with the white dots around the dark disc in the sky. The former Horuseus blader was murmuring under his breath, trying to decipher the hieroglyphs. "Stars," he said softly. "The white dots are the stars' powers sealing back the darkness of Nemesis."

The former Leone blader sighed. "So we need all the Legendary Bladers' powers to seal away Nemesis now, that's what you're saying?"

Nile thought for a second. "Not exactly. These dots are the stars that used their power in that day and age to seal the darkness away. Then centuries later, the light of the solar system blader warriors shut away Nemesis. This time around it is the job of the four season Legendary Bladers."

"So we need the constellations of my Leone, Gingka's Pegasus, Chris' Orion and Ryuga's Ldrago."

Nile inclined his head. "It seems that is the only way. My rough translation of this panel is 'Only the chosen powers can lock the darkness.'"

"Too bad, I was hoping to do this whole saving the world thing, get Leone back and beat Gingka finally, but it looks like we'll need his help to save the world after all," Kyoya grudgingly replied.

"Don't forget, you'll need to find Chris and…" Nile trailed off. "This could be a problem. With Ryuga out of the picture, Ldrago's power must have been passed on at his death. With this in mind, figuring out who that person is will not necessarily be easy. Especially if they are already a blader and have their own powers like we do. Their own bey's powers would mask the fact that Ldrago's strength also lies within them."

Kyoya frowned. "If I were Ldrago, who would I pass my power on to?" He sighed. "Hard to say. As much as I hate to admit it, it's not like it could find another blader with as much strength as its former master… Perhaps someone close to him. Like… Ugh! I give up. Ryuga had no friends. Ldrago must simply have gone to the next strongest blader."

"Well it's not one of us, as far as we know now. Maybe someone from the World Championships?" Nile suggested. It was as good a lead as any so far. "There was Team Excalibur – they were strong."

"So was the American team, Starbreaker."

"Gan Gan Galaxy won the thing. Maybe one of them?"

Kyoya snorted. "The only world class blader on that team was Gingka. And Ryuga basically carried them through the final match by defeating Jack after Masamune was crushed by Zeo. Then Gingka got super determined and basically _willed_ himself to defeat Damian." _If it weren't for his determination and my broken bey, it would have been us at the top,_ he added silently in his head.

"Hey wait a minute. Didn't that one kid who is friends with Gingka follow Ryuga around for a while?"

Kyoya thought for a minute. "You know, he did." He recalled how Kenta had been most affected by seeing the Legendary Blader of Summer's defeat. "You think Ldrago's power lies with him as well as Sagitario's?"

"Perhaps." Nile began to exit the corridor. His friend followed as he continued. "I believe our best course of action would be to find Gingka. You can bet that wherever he is, that kid will also be. If either of them do indeed have the summer fragment, all we will need to do then is collect Chris and defeat Nemesis."

While pondering the irony of Ryuga's archrival Gingka receiving his powers, Kyoya suddenly stopped. "Nile, how are we supposed to fight the black sun? It's up in the sky. We can't exactly become stars and encircle it like in that old mural."

Nile was silent a minute before answering. "Well the first time you all fought Nemesis he manifested here on the earth in the form of a bey. You'd need to get him back down here unless you all suddenly get flying powers or something."

"I know the perfect way to get his attention too," Kyoya said with a smirk. "Start annihilating shades. Once he starts noticing the effects, he'll have to turn his attention down here." Of course, Rago and the other servants of Nemesis would probably be called on to figure out the problem first, but once they were eliminated from the equation, Nemesis would have to come out and face them himself.

"Now for the _actual_ hard part," Nile commented. He knew what was going through the former Leone blader's mind. "Getting from Egypt to Japan." It was most likely that Gingka would be there. They had to start somewhere, after all.

Kyoya groaned. It looked like they had a while before they'd meet up with anyone after all. That was, until he had an idea…

* * *

 **So Kyoya and Nile arrive on the scene! I remember when I was first writing this story and kept wanting to put them in but waiting because the timing wasn't right yet. I hope you think it was worth the wait!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter has humor to it, but also seriousness as well. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"You ready Gingka?"

"Bring it, Tsubasa."

Madoka slapped her forehead with one hand. "You guys are really serious about this whole race thing?"

"Yeah, why not?" Gingka asked with a grin.

"Okay, Gingka I believe. But you too Tsubasa? I thought you were more mature than this," said Hikaru.

"I just need to convince Gingka here that he doesn't have any kind of superpower."

"And _I_ need to prove that I _do_ have superpowers," the redhead replied.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I race too?" Yu asked, dancing around happily as Yuki explained that he had eaten far too much ice cream and it would be best to let him run off his sugar high with the older guys.

Of course, this meant Kenta felt obligated to join in the race as well. The two girls sighed. It was up to them to start the race. "On your mark, get set, go!" Hikaru and Madoka counted down.

No surprise when Tsubasa and Gingka took off in a flat-out sprint, leaving Kenta and Yu behind to battle it out for third and fourth place. Yuki, being more so the brains of the outfit, walked back to camp along with the girls, who were comparing the jobs they had applied for.

Meanwhile, the two teens in front kept racing for it. After the initial sprint, Tsubasa had been slowly pulling further and further ahead of the former Pegasus wielder. Gingka was panting hard, but unwilling to give up on catching his now almost out of sight friend. "Now, now!" he gasped out, trying to tap into his superspeed. It wasn't working. Gingka tried to recall how he had done it the last time, and imagined himself running from the shades again. This time it worked!

The trees sped past Gingka – or rather he sped past them – and in a few seconds he had caught up with Tsubasa. Slowing down, he kept pace with the former Eagle blader and shouted "See you at the camp, slowpoke!" racing off at his now-blinding speed and shocking Tsubasa so greatly he tripped over a tree root before regaining his footing with a sigh. He had been proven wrong after all.

By the time he made it back to camp, Gingka was sitting coolly in the middle of the clearing, not the slightest bit out of breath. "Took you long enough."

Tsubasa rolled his eyes. "Fine Gingka, I'll admit I was wrong. But do tell – how did you get this superpower?"

The smile on Gingka's face crumbled away. "I don't know, Tsubasa. It just appeared when I needed it to escape from the shades the other day. To trigger it during our race, I imagined what had been happening that day."

A thoughtful expression came over Tsubasa's face. "Do you think-"

"I made it!" Yu screamed, running into the clearing. Apparently his sugar high was still going strong.

As the former Libra blader ran victory circles around the clearing, Kenta came in huffing and puffing. "I lost," he moaned, collapsing on the ground.

After a few more minutes, Yuki and the girls made it back. "So who's the big winner? Don't tell me it's Yu," Hikaru noted, seeing the younger excitable boy still running his victory circles.

"It was me," Gingka stated proudly.

Madoka smirked at Tsubasa. "So he has superpowers after all, huh?"

"It appears so," Tsubasa admitted. "Although how he got superspeed, I have no idea. Still, he raced right past me, it wasn't just his imagination or anything."

Yuki looked thoughtful. "Superspeed. Hmm." Everyone looked at him expectantly – except for Yu, still on his sugar high – but when he opened his eyes and saw them staring, he just shook his head. "I lack the evidence to create a hypothesis about this. Sorry everyone."

It's not a problem, Yuki," Gingka told the boy. "Now that I know I have this power, think of how far I can go out scavenging!"

Before he could walk off to the camper, Madoka grabbed him by the ear and corrected him. "You won't be going nearly as far, so don't get all excited. Hikaru and I will have jobs soon hopefully. You won't need to go out much at all then."

"Ow, stop that!" he complained, rubbing his ear and glaring at Tsubasa, who was trying unsuccessfully to hide his smirk.

By this time, the sun had nearly completely set. "Um, guys? I think we should quiet down unless we want to get found out by all the shades within a five mile radius." While Hikaru's words _were_ exaggerated, they still held truth. So the group settled into the camper to wait out the long night in relative safety.

xXxXx

"Will someone please shut him up?" the sedan driver groaned. It was only a few minutes into their trip to Boston and Masamune was already playing the part of the long-parted best friend about to be reunited with the one he longed to see.

"Would you simmer down dude?" Toby asked. The only reason he and Zeo were holding up was because they were used to the former Striker blader's antics. "It's not like you even really _knew_ Damian or Jack. Zeo did, and look at how calm he's being about the whole situation."

True, Masamune noted. Zeo was calmly sitting in the middle seat in the back of their sedan, sandwiched between himself and Toby. "Do you think we'll get to fight them?"

The driver of the sedan chuckled at the teen's excitement. This was actually interesting. He had long been a follower of Herschel and the Nemesis regime since the days when Hades Inc. still existed. "I doubt it kid; this meeting is all about creating unity amongst the three great cities, not driving them further apart."

Masamune frowned. Toby, noticing this, put in, "Perhaps in the spirit of fun we could have a matchup." He did not really think this a possibility, but at this point, calming the former Striker blader down was all that mattered to him. For both his and Zeo's sanity.

Much to his surprise, their driver chuckled again. "You never know, kids. Though the three leaders are supposed to be united, they can't help but have a little bit of friendly rivalry. A battle royal between the five of you would be entertaining, that's for sure."

The three men also in the car – one up front next to the driver and the others in the two seats in front of Masamune, Zeo, and Toby – all warmed quite well to this topic, debating on who they would bet on in such a brawl. Much to the dismay of Masamune (Toby and Zeo didn't really care), the four mainly debated between Jack and Damian.

"Don't take it personally, kids," one told them. "It's just – you haven't seen those two… They're something else."

"They've also been working with their powers longer than the three of you," another put in.

"Don't count us out yet! We have teamwork!" Masamune announced.

Toby and Zeo slouched a little further down in their seats. This was going to be a loooong ride.

xXx

After several more hours of torture (at least for Toby and Zeo. Surprisingly, the four men up front were more entertained by the antics of Masamune rather than annoyed as they had been at the beginning of the ride.), the entire entourage arrived at last in Boston. From the amount of cars parked outside Cycnus' headquarters, Keyser and his entourage from Philadelphia must have arrived before them.

As the driver parked the sedan, Masamune unbuckled his seatbelt and bolted from the vehicle the instant the engine stopped. "Oh boy oh boy oh boy! We're finally here! I can't wait to see Jack and Damian and fight them and-"

The men up front laughed at his antics while Toby and Zeo climbed more slowly from their positions in the back seat. As their friend jabbered away, the sedan driver and his three pals led the former bladers to the reception hall where Cycnus would be hosting his welcome feast.

Food of all sorts were served; many rich foods the three friends were not used to. Herschel had them on healthy diets to aid the physical aspect of their training. Zeo and Toby tried to go for the fruits and steamed vegetables, knowing their stomachs would not handle the rich meats and pastas. Such a fare was rare in New York; only Herschel and his elites dined in such a manner.

Masamune on the other hand, went for the duck delicacy and roasted and heavily spiced turkey, along with various thick and doughy breads. His two friends frowned at his atrocious eating habits – the former Striker blader sure could pack it in! Jack and Damian sat coolly by Keyser and Cycnus respectively, eying up the three friends. There was no reason for them to ask why they were suddenly there – it was clear by their position near Herschel that they served the same function as the two former Starbreaker bladers.

Though the dinner was a generally noisy affair, those at the high table kept a cold silence. Herschel's actions the week before would not be so quickly forgotten. Zeo and Toby found themselves grateful for Masamune's appetite. It kept his mouth full of food instead of words. When the feast was finally cleared, Cycnus stood to welcome everyone to Boston. He said something about fixing things between the three great cities, but Masamune was having a hard time focusing. He felt suddenly sick from his meal. At the end of his speech, he invited everyone to come outdoors to a courtyard and witness the scheduled entertainment courtesy of some other allies of Nemesis.

The three friends tailed Herschel outside and fought to keep from gaping – the four who stood before them were the former members of team Garcias, the four Garcia siblings themselves. And even more shockingly, the four of them were going to be having a battle royal against Cycnus, Herschel and Keyser!

The three friends hadn't seen this many beys clash since before the reign of Nemesis; and they got front row seats thanks to their status as Herschel's bodyguards. To their right sat Damian and to his right sat Jack. They all remained silent until Zeo decided now was the time to break the ice with his former teammates, since Masamune – on the far left – was trying not to puke and was therefore not his usual chatty self.

"Do you wish you were out there?"

Damian's gray eyes flicked toward him for an instant and then back to the courtyard. It was Jack who answered: "Yes and no. Without my bey's disappearance, I would never have discovered my power. Yet if I had sided with Nemesis from the beginning, it could be me out there too, just as I always was in the past – a blader."

"Do you know anyone else who has powers?" Toby asked.

"Personally? No," was Damian's short response. Jack elaborated: "We have heard from Keyser and Cycnus about several… incidents. Incidents where people with our kind of powers fight against the shades."

"And win?" Toby pried.

"I'm sure it won't be for long," Damian spoke up. "If things in China get much worse, the boss is considering sending us in to shut things down."

The boss. That could only be Rago himself, who ruled London and its surroundings with an iron grip. As the direct link to Nemesis, all major incidents were reported to him.

The five former bladers sat in silence after that. Zeo and Toby were deep in thought. If worse came to worst, would _they_ be called in to deal with the guy in China who supposedly had three powers? Their reverie was interrupted with loud shouts from the surrounding crowd. Argo and Cycnus had tied for the win with both of their beys flying out of the stadium at the same time due to a tremendous collision. Damian smirked. Masamune was still feeling sick. Cycnus bowed to the cheering crowd and after a minute, held his hand up for silence.

"The entertainment is only beginning, folks. Argo, by the grace of our Lord Nemesis and Master Rago, rules over the city of Sparta, Greece. He has brought back the great ideals of their warriors of old along with the glory of the gladiator fights of Rome! Please welcome the first of his fighters to the stage!"

Two men came out grinning, banging their swords against their shields. Jack leaned forward eagerly. Damian had his same bored expression on. The three friends didn't quite know what to think. Except Masamune. "I think I'll lose my delicious dinner if someone dies out there," he moaned miserably.

The fighting began, and lo and behold Masamune held on to his dinner. No one died. But none of them could have expected what would be the final act of the "show".

"For the final match of the evening, we will have a bit of a change-up: Man versus beast!" The crowd roared at Argo's announcement. "And now I present the King of Beasts!" A lion trotted out, and the crowd gasped. Good thing they were up on platforms and couldn't be attacked. The lion prowled around looking for food. Then, from a door at the bottom of the platforms came a figure with a sword and shield. "Facing the beast is the Legendary Blader known as King!"

The three friends gaped as their friend took the field. The lion spotted King, roared once, and made a mad dash for him. Masamune held his breath, but King soundly blocked the blow with his shield and rolled with it. This continued for a while until it looked like the beast had caught the former blader off guard. It struck a glancing blow, knocking King to the ground. The former Variares blader rolled onto his knees, but the lion was already in mid-leap.

"KING!" Masamune shouted, standing up.

The gladiator flinched and spun to face his long-lost friend. The shout saved his life. Instead of ripping his entire chest open, the lion only knocked his light armor right off him, leaving only a slight graze of claw marks on the former blader.

Remembering himself, King turned to face the beast, only to realize that his sword had also been swiped from him along with the blow. Shirt in tatters, King bravely faced the beast with shield alone. A hush fell over the audience. The lion charged him and he knocked it to the side, striking a glancing blow with his shield. Several more times this happened before the shield simply split in half, having also been damaged in the attack that cost his armor and sword. Defenseless and trapped, King held his arms crossed in front of him and yelled, as if that would repel the lion's attack.

Two of the three friends closed their eyes, unable to watch. Masamune jumped over the guardrail, sickness forgotten in an instant, and yelled "I'm coming King!" His cry, however, was drowned out with the horrible crash and scrape of claws on metal.

Zeo opened his eyes and drew in a sharp breath. A glowing red shield had manifested on King's left arm while his right gripped a similarly glowing sword. The lion jerked violently and fell to the ground; though whether it was dead or unconscious Zeo could not tell. Electricity crackled down the length of the sword King held and over the front of his shield as well.

"You have powers too!" Masamune smiled, walking over.

King seemed to only somewhatly hear his friend. "I have to leave, I need to get out of here," his friend heard him mutter. The former Variares blader ran for the side of the platform, hacking into it smoothly with his electrified sword. The platform and people sitting on it collapsed behind him, creating a commotion it would be easy to get lost in – unless one was carrying glowing, electrified weapons, that is.

Masamune ran after him, shouting that he could fix things, but his cries were drowned out by the screams of the cohorts of Herschel, Keyser and Cycnus as the bleachers collapsed beneath them. He could not follow any further, as the rubble blocked his path. King was now out in the open, sprinting away down the street. His sword and shield had vanished into thin air.

"Get him!" Cycnus yelled.

The former Variares blader slammed to a sudden halt as a large three-headed dog appeared in front of him with Damian Hart on its back.

"Stop now and you don't need to get hurt," the teen told him.

"No way! I'm done working for the Garcias! I tried my best to fit in, but it's not my style to fight this way. However, I'll make an exception: you shall be my final opponent." King summoned his weapons with a look of effortlessness that stunned Zeo and Toby, who had newly arrived on the scene. Hadn't the former Mars blader just discovered his powers?

"Then I have no choice but to take you down," the former Starbreaker member said with a shrug.

"Take him alive if possible," Cycnus advised his bodyguard. "Perhaps he can be rehabilitated."

Damian nodded and nudged his creation to attack. King blocked Cerberus' claws with Ares' shield and the dog flinched from the electric shock. _I didn't think he could affect my creation,_ Damian thought with a frown. _No normal weapons have ever hurt my mental projections before. It must be because he too is using powers. No worries, I've got other tricks up my sleeves._

Spreading his arms, Damian closed his eyes and a crash resounded. Frowning, he opened his eyes and saw that Jack had come in and bopped King on the head with a steel arm. Normally the former Kerbecs blader would have been absolutely pissed at someone barging into his battle, but this time it had allowed him to keep the full extent of his powers hidden from potential enemies, so he simply smirked and dissipated Cerberus with a flashy gesture – though it was quite unnecessary.

By this time, Argo's men were clamping irons on an unconscious King as Masamune arrived on the scene. "What's going on? What will happen to him?"

Jack shrugged. "Rehabilitation, whatever that means."

Masamune looked ill. "What? I think I'm going to be…"

"Ew." Even Zeo and Toby turned away as their friend finally lost the dinner which had sat so poorly in his stomach.

* * *

 **Poor Masamune... He hadn't felt good the entire time.**

 **What will happen with King? How about Gingka and his superspeed? Stay tuned to find out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**It's Friday, so here's the seventh chapter of _Under a Darkened Sky_. We will be checking in on some characters that haven't been in the spotlight since chapter three, and also finding out what Benkei is up to after defeating Marcus.**

* * *

With Marcus sealed in an empty barrel, Benkei decided to settle down and eat his fill of Marcus' stash of food. Eventually his unconscious companion groaned and awoke, rubbing his head. "Benkei? You found me?"

"B-b-b-bull, you left that manhole cover wide open and clearly weren't in the city. Where else would I look?"

Demure searched around for Marcus.

"He's in that barrel." Benkei pointed to the other side of the room.

Demure frowned. "We should get out of here before he wakes up and causes more trouble."

"As long as we take his food with us I'm good," the former Bull blader announced. He had already stockpiled his favorites in a heap next to him.

Demure grabbed some more nonperishables and tied them together in a tarp. "If you want it, you carry it."

Normally Benkei would complain, but since it was food, he for once did not. "Where will we head?"

"I was thinking toward Mist Mountain. Maybe Dynamis will still be hanging around the temple. We could use more people who aren't this guy," Demure said, jerking a thumb at Marcus. Benkei agreed, and the two former teammates went out again to brave the desert and begin the long trek to Mist Mountain.

xXxXx

Soon after daybreak, Hikaru and Madoka returned to town to discover whether or not they had been hired. Yuki and Kenta were fiddling with the radio – something about trying to hack Nemesis airwaves. Tsubasa was washing dishes while Yu dried them. Gingka told everyone he would be gone for the day on a trip to Koma village and be back by nightfall thanks to his superspeed.

Sure enough, he made it there in no time at all. "Hyoma?" he asked almost hesitantly, not wanting to alert any enemies that could possibly be in the area of his presence.

There was no answer.

The former Pegasus blader began his search. He started in his own former house; the one he had woken up in after the defeat of the Legendary Bladers. He grabbed a flashlight and searched his house thoroughly. No Hyoma. No anything, really. He had cleared the place out before trekking into the city to find his friends.

 _"_ _Hyoma, I'm going to head to Tokyo. Maybe Madoka and Kenta and the others are in there. I_ need _to find them."_

 _"_ _But why, Gingka?" his friend asked with a hurt expression. "We've been safe here. Remember the first time…" he trailed off, glancing away from Gingka._

 _"_ _Yes, I remember," the redhead whispered. The first time he, Hyoma and his father had tried to go to the city, Ryo ended up sacrificing himself so the two teens could escape the shades that were coming up the road from the city. Gingka and Hyoma had never attempted to leave again since that time. It had now been a full week. But he felt that it was time now – he had a gut feeling that his friends were in that city and he needed to find them. "Are you ready to come with me?"_

 _The former Ares blader sighed, looking mournfully at him. "I'm not going to leave, Gingka. Koma Village is my home. I belong here with Hycuto."_

 _The talking dog padded over and nudged Gingka's leg. "Stay here, Gingka. We already lost Ryo, we don't need to lose you as well."_

Gingka shook his head, clearing his mind. He had left, made it to town and found his friends without ever seeing a shade. Hyoma and Hycuto should have come with him. Well, now it was time for him to find them. He left his house – clearly they hadn't touched it since he went to the city. Next stop – Hyoma's place.

The former Pegasus blader blinked as he walked out of his dark house into the sunny daylight. It was noon, so he had plenty of time before he needed to sprint back to camp. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. The door wasn't locked, Gingka had tried the handle, so he let himself in.

"Hyoma?" he called out. Only silence greeted him. Flicking the flashlight back on, he called out again. Still nothing. "Don't freak out, I'm coming in."

The living room and kitchen were both empty. A thin layer of dust covered the table, where two sets of dishes were left out. One for Hyoma and one for Hycuto, Gingka assumed. The only place left to check was Hyoma's bedroom. The redhead let out a sigh and walked over. The door was closed. Gingka knocked, polite as ever, though he didn't hold out much hope for his friends being in there. He thought he heard a faint rustling, but banished the thought from his mind. He had to be hearing things now.

Gingka shined the light around and froze when a pair of eyes shone back at him through the dark. The creature hissed at him, baring teeth. "Gah!" Gingka stumbled backward. Only after the animal rushed past him did he realize it was a raccoon that had scared him so. Putting a hand on his heart, he paused until his breathing returned to normal; then went over to open the shades on the window. The bed looked rumpled, but there was dust on the dresser. Clearly Hyoma hadn't slept here recently; as if the raccoon hadn't been enough of a clue.

After checking all around the village and its nearby surroundings, he came to a final conclusion: Hyoma was gone. Whether that meant he was dead or simply had gone off in search of food or something and never came back because he had never felt the need, though, Gingka did not know. Frowning at the eclipsing of the sun by the black sun, he called it quits and kicked his superspeed into gear to get back to the camp before the sun was completely covered.

xXxXx

"Hello, Pluto speaking."

…

"Yes. We have been on high alert, but the perpetrator continues to evade capture."

…

An exasperated sigh could be heard. "I am aware. What has Master Rago proclaimed?"

… …

Pluto's features twisted into a grimace. "I see. I will work with them according to his wishes." A clank was heard as the ruler of Hong Kong hung up his phone. He sat at his desk for a long time doing nothing before busying himself with a stack of paperwork.

Miniaturized Chi-yun scuttled back a safe distance and exited the building before changing back to his normal size in a discreet back alley. It was time to head home – night was swiftly falling, and the "resistance group" as the media had taken to calling them generally wreaked havoc for four to five hours before disappearing off the grid entirely for the rest of the dark hours. Aguma had wanted to fight all night, but Dashan argued that a certain amount of rest was necessary for the four former Wang Hu Zhong members to maintain functionality at their daytime jobs. Just because Bao and Aguma led underground lives didn't mean they all could; and it would be suspicious if a home of four former bladers suddenly up and left. So Dashan, Chi-yun, Mei-Mei and Chao Xin worked their nine hours during the day and either spent the remaining three hours of daylight in free time or scoping out the leaders of the city, searching for any information on other cities having problems due to a resistance force such as their own, and keeping one step ahead of Pluto and their pursuers, of course.

As he casually walked home, he noticed Chao Xin sitting in a café working his magic quite literally on a couple of secretaries of high-ranking officials. Soon after Dashan and Chi-yun had discovered their powers, Mei-Mei had found her ability to create a water shield which shades were unable to pass through. As long as she was near a source of water – be it an ocean or a cup in a restaurant – the water would flow at her command and create a dome-like shield around her. With some practice, she was later able to create a sphere around an ally to protect them. Her latest idea was to form "water armor": a thin coating of water that only left her eyes, mouth and nose free to see and breathe. She couldn't be blindsided by an attack from behind that way, which would be useful if separated from her comrades. However, the technique was not yet perfected.

Chao Xin's power, however, had taken time to figure out. It was a good thing the former Virgo blader had not been upset that his power was not battle based like so many others. He took his "charm" as an additional blessing to his looks, and liked to think of himself as the master of a spy ring, always staying one step ahead of the enemy. Chi-yun also couldn't help but notice his power affected his social life as well. It seemed twice as many ladies clung to him as before. Apparently it was hard for them to, quote, "find hot guys during the apocalypse." Dashan turned a blind eye, Mei-Mei pretended to do likewise, and Aguma and Bao flat out didn't care. Only Chi-yun was left to frown upon his friend's behavior.

The former Lacerta blader came to the house he shared with his former teammates and walked in. The front door had been accessible for a while now. The fissure in the ground, which had been both caused and eliminated by Aguma, had proved to contain no useful evidence other than what Pluto and his underlings had already known: the terrorizer of the city had a crimson glow, superspeed, and earth powers.

Upon entering, he noted Aguma and Bao in their usual places. The two had moved in soon after the first three Wang Hu Zhong members discovered their powers, on the pretense of living with them to better find out what power Chao Xin possessed. Chi-yun personally thought they were just there for the free room and board – not that Dashan would kick them out if he told him that or anything, since the two _had_ been very helpful in getting them to discover their powers and all. The former Lacerta blader sat in his chair and waited for the rest of his housemates to arrive. Dashan gestured for him to share what intelligence he had gathered once everyone had assembled.

"This one is very important everyone. I overheard Pluto talking on the phone. While I could only hear Pluto's end, he didn't seem too happy with whoever was calling."

"Did he say any names or cities during the conversation?" Bao questioned. The more they knew, the better.

"Rago." There was a long silence. "Pluto said 'I am aware. What has Master Rago proclaimed,' and then he said 'I see. I will work with them according to his wishes.' All this had something to do with us. He also talked about not finding the perpetrators of something while being on high alert."

Aguma nodded silently. "If only we knew who 'them' is," Mei-Mei spoke up.

Chao Xin said, "I'll pry and see what Pluto's secretary knows." With his enchanter-like powers, he could ask obvious questions and not be suspected at all by the people he asked. Unfortunately, Pluto was rarely out in public, and when he was, he was always heavily guarded, leaving no opportunities for Chao Xin to sidle over and ask pointed questions to one of the more direct servants of Nemesis. The secretaries he normally hung out with would usually only know low level stuff. "I did find something interesting out from one of the girls, though. Apparently the Legendary Blader King is being held prisoner in Boston after using powers of some sort to attempt escape from the three leaders of Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, and also Argo Garcia."

Seeing their confused expressions, he added on more gleaned information. "Argo is apparently leader of Sparta, Greece, and had brought King to fight in a gladiator match against some sort of beast, which quickly got out of hand. All three American leaders were present, and King was brought down quickly, but not killed."

"Most likely they want to brainwash him, get him back on their side, and use whatever powers he possesses for their own good," put in Dashan.

There was a moment of silence.

"If only we could help him in some way," Bao mused. "But we're across the world from King, so I doubt we could unless one of us develops some sort of transportation or teleportation power soon."

Less than a week ago, Aguma had quite suddenly and surprisingly found out that he had the power of superstrength. A building had collapsed on him and Dashan as they were fighting a swarm of shades. As the last one vanished with a hiss, the building creaked, groaned, and fell. Aguma dove to knock Dashan out of the way and raised his arms to shield himself as best he could. Much to everyone's relief and surprise, Aguma was able to hold the fallen beams up. Bao eventually talked him into pushing the building high in the air so that he could quick run in and help Aguma out before the structure collapsed entirely.

The group wasn't quite sure how to make use of this new power to its entirety because most objects would pass right through shades without harming them. However, through some experimentation, it was found that a large, thick object with some mass to it would disrupt the form of a shade enough to make it vanish back to the Black Sun.

Aguma still preferred to use his seismic abilities though, as it was easier for large-scale shade disposal. Dashan would use his lava, Chi-yun his giant size (he found he could make himself larger _or_ smaller at will, not just the latter), Mei-Mei her water shields, and Bao his crimson flash superspeed powers to draw shades in. Then Aguma would split the ground under them and send them falling into an abyss, closing the earth above them. Because he had neither offensive nor defensive powers, Chao Xin would retire early, wake before the black sun revealed the actual sun, and be in the streets as early as possible to gather intelligence.

"We need to be more cautious than ever," Dashan warned as the group was about to leave. "We don't know precisely who or what is coming for us. It probably won't be tonight, but you can never be sure."

He, Aguma, Bao, Chi-yun and Mei-Mei then slipped out the back door and split up, each to lead shades to the designated spot where Aguma would then clear them for the night.

* * *

 **What do you think of the story so far? Who was talking to Pluto on the phone? Who will rescue King? Let me know in a review!**


	8. Chapter 8

"I don't believe you need to hear me say it, but I will anyway." A very stern Herschel sat across from Masamune, Zeo and Toby. "I am _very_ disappointed in you."

It was the day after the fateful meeting of the three American leaders in Boston; the day after King had tried and failed to escape from Argo Garcia. The leader of New York City had flown back into his domain via helicopter along with his three trainees and now sat on the opposite side of his desk from them.

The three friends knew better than to say anything.

"I raised you up from your former jobs, brought you into my own home, and taught you to use the powers within you. We may have had our differences before the reign of Nemesis, but now we all need each other." Here Herschel made a face. "Unfortunately, your little action yesterday made the other leaders not so happy with me." _As if they didn't already have cause to hate me_ , he left unsaid. His trainees didn't need to know about that mishap. "I just got off the phone with Keyser. He and Cycnus and I have been commanded to send special aide to Pluto in Hong Kong by Master Rago himself. Seems they are having a problem with rebels over there. Anyhow, you two will be informed about it on the way."

Much as he was loath to part with two of his gifted protégé, it was imperative that Master Rago be obeyed, Cycnus and Keyser be pleased, and Pluto be assisted; for the good of Lord Nemesis' world. "Zeo and Toby, you two will be leaving this afternoon with one of those other two former Starbreaker bladers; whichever one Keyser and Cycnus decide to send. You will be briefed about the mission in part on the way, and in full when you arrive in Hong Kong. Masamune, you will be sent back to Boston immediately to assist the other of those two in guarding the prisoner, King, so he can be rehabilitated before Argo and his group depart back to Sparta. You will not fail me in this, or the consequences will be severe, special powers be damned."

The former Striker blader flinched. His ability had kept him safe thus far, but it seemed his severe insubordination the other day – practically helping King escape – was enough for some sort of punishment. Herschel had clearly been told to chastise all of them, but he knew it was Masamune who had actually done something, Toby and Zeo had only failed to apprehend him before he did it. Herschel was splitting them up, testing them. If they failed… He didn't want to know what would happen then.

The meeting was over then. The three friends went back to their rooms in the Empire State Building to pack for their various departures. "Goodbye Zeo. Toby." Masamune said, his usual excitement missing. He did give them each a hug; for good luck, he told himself. For once they didn't get annoyed with him for it either. "Guess you guys will miss me too," he said, voice quivering.

"Of course Masamune," Toby assured him.

Zeo nodded and looked him sternly in the eye. "Masamune. You cannot afford to mess this up. I know you and King have been close ever since Destroyer Dome, but for once put yourself ahead. You didn't get him into this mess, he was the one who tried to break out of the arena. All you did was talk to him. Still, you know what it looked like to the three leaders: they think you were telling him to try to escape. This is your chance, don't mess it up. We've got a good thing going here. Good food, lots of living space, no worries about shades." He could have kept listing, but he saw that his friend got the point.

"Masamune?" called a voice. The teens all turned to face it. It was some guy dressed all in black. "Come with me. You are done packing, I assume, if you are loitering around in the hallway chatting with friends."

Masamune nodded and followed the guy. His helicopter flight to Boston was about to begin. He waved goodbye one final time before he turned the corner.

The flight seemed long. He didn't speak a word to his pilot or escort who had fetched him in the hall. He brooded in silence, which was quite unlike him. When the helicopter landed, his escort led him to the room Cycnus had assigned him. While not as nice as his room in the Empire State Building, it was still larger than the room he had shared with Toby and Zeo back when they worked their factory jobs.

Once he had unpacked his few belongings and clothes, a man dropped by to show him to the prison King was being held in. "Prison" seemed a harsh word when he saw the lavish room his friend was being kept in. It had thick red carpet, no lack of décor, and had a veritable banquet on the dining table. A solid hunk of marble toward one corner of the room was almost the only place King could get some privacy – probably a bathroom. The bed he slept on had a canopy above it, offering a bit of privacy and darkness when the former Variares blader wished to sleep. Which apparently was now, as Masamune did not see him in the room and the bathroom door was open. The only difference between it and a room at a five star hotel was the walls, which were made out of thick glass. His friend was encased in a see-through cube of sorts, so he could be watched at all times.

"Even if he manages to call forth that sword and shield, he would never break through that glass." Masamune whirled around. The man who had taken him to the room with King's room inside it had simply vanished into thin air. "Of course, even if he _did_ escape, he would never get through me." Damian Hart now stood smugly next to one of the walls of the room.

Masamune shrieked and jumped back a step.

Damian laughed. "Scared you, huh?"

"Where did that guy go?"

"He never existed."

Masamune just stared.

Damian sighed and snapped his fingers. The guy who had led Masamune to the room appeared before him. "He is a figment of my imagination, kid." The man disappeared.

Masamune gaped, and then replied. "Don't call me kid. We're the same age!"

The former Kerbecs blader shrugged. "Whatever. I guess since you're here, that means my shift is finally over." He walked toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" Masamune asked.

"To bed. I haven't slept since two nights ago thanks to that guy's escape attempt."

The door to the large room slammed shut and Masamune flinched again. Then he decided to get a look around the room, see if he could communicate with King somehow. He soon stumbled upon a com system and pushed the red button. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

A shadow stirred under the canopy. "Masamune?" Somehow King's voice came clearly through the glass.

"Are you okay?" A stupid question, but he asked it anyway.

King emerged from under the canopy and walked over to the glass wall closest to Masamune and frowned. "As okay as ever, I guess. Not fighting any lions today." He still had his sense of humor, diminished as it was. "What brings you here?"

"You don't remember seeing me at the arena?"

"Vaguely. I was a little busy trying to evade death," joked King.

"I'm sorry," Masamune whispered. "I'll… try to get you out if I can. But Zeo told me not to step even a toe out of line."

"In those exact words?"

"No," Masamune sighed. "But I got the point. I've been working for Herschel. Well, we all have been. Me, Zeo and Toby. It's better than our old assembly line factory jobs, but…"

"You're having a moral crisis?" King asked.

"Of sorts."

xXx

Meanwhile, it was now afternoon and Toby and Zeo had been picked up by helicopter. And who was in that helicopter but Jack, their former teammate. "No Masamune, huh?" he asked the two as they climbed in. The only reason they could hear him over the roar of the rotor was the helmets with mics in them they wore. "I guess it's better that way. We all know he was the one who aided King, not you two."

Toby bristled, but Zeo acted chill. "What is the mission, Jack? Herschel said we would be briefed in part on the trip and in full once we reach Hong Kong."

"I'll brief you on the plane ride. This helicopter is only taking us to Herschel's private hanger, where we will get on a plane and fly direct to Hong Kong over the Pacific Ocean."

The rest of the short helicopter ride was spent listening to the loud sounds of their transportation. The plane was a different matter; a smooth ride and cushy seating. There were even TVs in the seats in front of them! Masamune would have loved it, they both knew. But he was not there. Jack was. He sat across the aisle from them and let them know the short explanation of what they were to do once they reached Hong Kong.

"Pluto has been dealing with a rebellion in his city, but not just any rebellion, a rebellion of people like us, people with powers. So you see why it is hard for him to stop them. It seems at first there was only one insurrectionist possessing superspeed, earth powers, and a reddish glow. They called him The Crimson Flash for his speed and glow. A few weeks later, new people show up joining the cause of this Crimson Flash. According to reports directly from Lord Nemesis himself, one can change sizes, one controls water, and another has the ability to create lava from the earth and control it."

"If they know all this, why can't they stop them? Aren't the shades able to do anything?" Toby asked.

"Therein lies the problem. You see, while Lord Nemesis knows this, the only reason he does is because of the shades on the earth. Think of them as his eyes and ears. The shades will get close, oh so close, to seeing these insurrectionists clearly, only to fall through the ground and be buried alive, causing them to return to the black sun. Lord Nemesis then is able to process and know what they heard and saw, but by the end, it is a jumbled mess. The bottom line is that these new people seem to lure shades into a specific location where The Crimson Flash then finishes them off. Pluto doesn't have anyone like us in China – at least not on his side of the battle. Our job is to run with the shades to the rendezvous point, find the perpetrators, and either capture them or finish them off. Pluto will let us know when we reach Hong Kong."

 _Run with the shades?_ Toby shivered. Shades had always been a lurking threat. Now that he and his friends were on the side of Nemesis, though, he supposed it would be safe to be around them without fear of getting his life-energy drained. Either way, this trip was shaping up to be more interesting than he had originally thought. He couldn't help but wonder who the four people with powers were.

"So far, we know people with powers that are from the Beyblading World Championships and the Legendary Bladers." Zeo spoke as if reading Toby's mind. Hopefully he wasn't developing telepathy. "Do you think it could be the Chinese team?"

Toby shrugged. "We're the American team and ended up in America. They're the Chinese team. It's a good probability that they ended up in China. I guess we will find out soon either way."

xXxXx

"I think I hear something Yuki," Kenta called. The former Anubius blader stopped fiddling with wires and hurried over. He and Kenta had been at the radio for hours with no success at hacking into the frequencies used by Nemesis' higher-ups. Now though, they had a breakthrough. "It sounds like… Johannes!"

By now, Yuki was putting an ear to the radio. He had to agree with Kenta. "Who else would say 'There were large-scale attacks in Tokyo last night, meow?'"

"Wait, did you say _attacks_?" Kenta gaped.

"Shh!" Yuki hissed, turning the volume dial up higher.

The two kept listening. "Never before have we faced a threat like this. We have no footage of the individual or individuals responsible for the wanton destruction of the shades on their nightly patrols, but several citizens have lodged weather complaints about high winds and bright flashes of light, meow. Johannes out!"

There was a hiss, as if he were imitating a cat, and then nothing. A faint voice could be heard in the background, but the two boys could not make out either the who or the what of the conversation. A blaring voice then came on and the two flinched backward, covering their blasted eardrums with their hands.

"You're listening to some smooth jazz with DJ Rago, smooth as butter. Hope you enjoy the latest." A saxophone then started playing, soon joined by an orchestra.

Tsubasa and Yu came running into camp. "What is going on?" the former Eagle blader barked.

"We found out some stuff," Yuki began.

"Like that Rago has an affinity for smooth jazz," Kenta butted in.

"Really?" Yu asked, bounding over holding the beach ball he and Tsubasa had been tossing around. "Maybe it is the key to his defeat! Does anyone play the sax? No?"

Yuki sighed. "What I was _trying_ to say was that there were attacks on shades in Tokyo last night. Apparently a bunch of shades got annihilated by the weather or something. There were strong winds and flashes of light seen in the vicinity."

"He struck me as more of a hard metal or screamo fan," Yu mused.

Tsubasa, Yuki and Kenta just stared at him. "You're still stuck on that?" Tsubasa asked blandly.

"I can't help it! It's funny!" The other three rolled their eyes.

"Weather?" Tsubasa asked, bringing them back to the original conversation, "or people like Gingka with powers based on their beys?"

"Was that what you were trying to say before Yu interrupted you the other day?" Yuki questioned. He hadn't wanted to hypothesize that day for fear of getting everyone's hopes up again like with the Benkei and Kyoya thing the other day.

"I was thinking of saying it," admitted Tsubasa.

"Who could it be then? I haven't seen any former bladers in the area. Besides us of course," Yuki put in.

"That's 'cause we just got here." The four friends spun around and saw none other than Kyoya standing at the edge of the clearing.

The shrubbery behind him parted to make way for Nile. "We got to Japan late last night and decided to clean up some shades before setting off to find the lot of you at dawn."

Kenta blinked. Was it just him, or were the two former Wild Fang members staring particularly at him? His thoughts were interrupted by Kyoya. "Is Gingka around?"

Tsubasa answered. "He's off in Koma Village. He should be back before dusk though. Madoka and Hikaru will be back a little before then as well. That would be all of us, then."

"I see." Kyoya turned to Nile. "I'm shocked by how large their group is, and with three star fragments hidden away as well."

"Sometimes the best cover is where you least expect it," was the Egyptian's reply.

"Three star fragments? What are you two talking about?" Yuki queried.

"We'll explain it all later when the others get back. First though, did I hear you say one of you have gained supernatural powers?" Nile looked around expectantly. This time Kenta was sure of it; the former Horuseus blader looked at him a second longer than the others.

"Gingki has superspeed! Zoom!" Yu laughed, running in a circle around the newcomers. "How did you know about the powers Yo-Yo?"

Nile glanced questioningly at Kyoya, who rolled his eyes at Yu's nickname for him and gestured for the Egyptian to explain. "Because a blader with a strong bond to their bey will find themselves with at least one power, according to our calculations and ancient lore. That's as much as I'll say now. I'll just have to repeat myself once everyone else gets back."

"Do you have anywhere for us to sleep? We've been traveling for many days with only a few drop off points for rest," Kyoya said. "So you better find us some accommodations."

Used to his natural bluntness, Tsubasa volunteered his and Yu's bunk bed in the camper. They didn't have any spare beds, but he was sure Gingka, Madoka and himself would be able to scrounge up something for the two.

"Wake us up when everyone is present, and not a minute sooner," Kyoya barked. Nile at least nodded his thanks to Tsubasa before shutting the camper door and climbing into the top bunk. Kyoya already lay sprawled out on the bottom.

"So, Rago likes smooth jazz," Nile remarked. Kyoya grinned which, Nile knew, was equivalent to Gingka rolling on the floor laughing.

xXx Four Hours Later xXx

Loud pounding on the camper door and raised voices outside awoke the two sleepers. "What do you mean we have visitors?" Gingka was demanding

"You'll want to see them yourself," Tsubasa advised. The camper door swung open and Kyoya and Nile exited.

Gingka gaped. "Kyoya? And Nile too?"

The former Leone balder smirked. "In the flesh."

"I just can't believe it's you." The redhead walked forward and reached out to touch Kyoya.

The teen slapped his hand away with a scowl. "Yeah, it's really me. And Nile isn't a ghost either."

Madoka pulled Gingka away before he antagonized Kyoya any further.

"Will you explain what you mentioned earlier?" Yuki asked nicely.

"All right everyone, gather 'round. Nile and I are going to explain everything." Kyoya seated himself on a rock in the clearing.

"Um… shouldn't we go inside the camper? It's nearly dark," Hikaru pointed out.

"Nope, we'll have more room out here. Sit down and get comfy." The group gathered at his feet and Nile stood behind him. Together they explained how they had discovered their powers soon after the world was changed. They then explained about their trip to the pyramids and how they had found out that the four seasonal Legendary Bladers were needed to complete Zeus' Barrier once again and stop the reign of Nemesis for good.

"But all of us will have powers, not just the Legendary Bladers, right? You did say that." Yu wanted a power too, after all.

Kyoya glanced at Nile, who nodded. Now that it was almost completely dark out, shades would be spawning all over. And this would answer Yu's question as well. The former Horuseus blader simply had to imagine it and it appeared: a golden dome above their heads, stretching across the clearing.

The entire group sat in awed silence. "That answers that question," Yu said happily, walking over to it and placing a hand against it. "It's so warm and glowy!"

"And practical," Kyoya added. "Shades cannot get through this shield. If they touch it, they will be harmed."

"Will they die?" Madoka asked curiously.

Kyoya frowned. "No. They merely return to the black sun to recharge. And Nile's Mystic Zone shield doesn't harm them enough for that, but a tornado from me would be more than enough to finish them off." He demonstrated by setting up a whirlwind in a corner with a flick of his hand for an instant before dissipating it with another gesture.

"So, why did you gesture to use your power but not Nile?" Tsubasa was as observant as ever.

"It depends on what the power is. Some need more physical direction than others. For example, Nile's other power does require direction through motion. And my second power is tied directly to motion. See?" He stood, gripped the large rock he had been sitting on, and hefted it above his head with ease. He placed it down, reclaimed his seat, and resumed his lecture. "Superstrength. Now Nile, demonstrated your air currents."

Nile nodded and raised his hands, air currents invisibly flying from his hands and quite visibly smashing a rock on the far side of the clearing.

"Okay, stop showing off already you two!" Gingka said with his usual spirit. "Let me show you my superspeed!"

"All right." Kyoya stood. "And after that we'll go back to the camper. We need to sleep well tonight. Tomorrow we will begin your training."

"Ooh! Training?" Yu ran around the clearing with Gingka in excitement, getting lapped every few seconds. The girls rolled their eyes and prepared to retire for the night. Kenta and Tsubasa soon followed with Gingka and Yu not far behind. The latter of the two was panting with exhaustion.

Only Yuki was left outside now. "I'll go get you some extra pillows and blankets. You'll either have to sleep on the kitchen floor inside the camper or outside on the ground. Can you keep the dome up all night even when you sleep, Mister Nile?"

"Yes."

Yuki left and came back, his arms stuffed with bedding. The two former Wild Fang bladers had decided to sleep outside, as they had done during the last several months – ever since Nemesis took over and the bladers were scattered. After they set up a cozy sleeping arrangement, Yuki was still standing nearby, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Yes?" asked Nile.

"About what you said earlier."

"Be more specific. We said a heck of a lot earlier," Kyoya snapped.

"You said there were three star fragments hidden here. I know I have one, and Gingka as well. What about the third?"

Nile looked at the poor kid apologetically, trying to make up for Kyoya's harshness. "We have a theory that the summer fragment has been passed on to either Kenta or Gingka – but probably the former, as Gingka already has the autumn fragment. Don't tell either of them; we'll assess the situation during training tomorrow night."

Yuki nodded solemnly and tiptoed off to bed, closing the camper door quietly behind him.

xXxXx

It was a Wednesday night. Julian Konzern once again sat at his secure computer, speaking with his former teammates. "Any urgent news?" So far, the only news discussed the past couple months had been the same old same old; the Crimson Flash continued to be active and had gained some followers with powers as well.

"Yes King Arthur." That was Sophie, sounding more intense about this than her other updates.

"Go ahead, Tristan." Whatever it was would surely peak his interest as it had hers.

"The Nemesis news network I hacked into has been crazy the past few days. Nemesis' servants are having problems left and right! Just last night, Johannes reported attacks against shades in Tokyo. We're talking nearly the scale of Hong Kong, only with fewer people as the perpetrators. In the accounts, it seems there were no more than two or three based on the places from which the shades were eliminated and the times at which they returned to the black sun."

"Any names or faces placed on these guys?" Wales asked. The group in China had yet to be identified by Nemesis as well.

"No confirmation, Lancelot," was Sophie's reply. "They did it all under the cover of night.

"Very well. Any other news?" asked Klaus.

"Something very big went down in America. Apparently the Legendary Blader King is being held in a prison in Boston, guarded by some of Cycnus' higher-ups. The three American leaders have also sent some of their elites to Pluto in order that the resistance in his city be eliminated."

Julian frowned. "This is most troublesome indeed. I want to have us make our move, but to where?"

"We know for sure that a Legendary Blader is in Boston," Klaus spoke up. "Of course, there could be one or more in China…"

"Gawain makes a good point," Wales put in. "I say we go to Boston."

Sophie spoke up in agreement.

"Then it is decided: we go to Boston. I want all of you to meet me at my villa in two days' time. We shall take my private jet. I will use the two days you three will be traveling to set up Round Table Enterprises to work in our absence. With any luck we will have no need for it soon; the world will swiftly return to the way it once was. King Arthur out!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome back! More characters discover their powers in this chapter, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Footsteps echoed down the stone corridors; quickly paced footsteps.

"Woah, we barely made it there, Chris," gasped Ryuto. He and the former Orion blader had been walking the maze of Mist Mountain when they ran into some prowling shades. It seemed they got bolder every day – or perhaps Nemesis merely enjoyed toying with humans. "How on earth did you vaporize those shades?"

By now, Dynamis had hurried out of whatever temple room he had been in. "Chris, Ryuto, are you two alright?"

"Alright? Chris somehow vaporized the shades following us with a beam of light!" Ryuto was very excited by this new event.

"Vaporized? How?" Dynamis was confused.

Chris sighed and explained. "The shades almost got us when I just felt I should stand and fight. I held out my arms and somehow summoned beams of light which harmed the shade."

"Is this the first time you've done something like this?" the former Jupiter blader asked.

"It's the first time I've vaporized shades, that's for sure. But I know I've seen the lights before. When I was out in the desert on my own, it was a light that seemed to come from me myself which guided me here to all of you."

Dynamis thought very hard for a while. By the time he answered, Tithi and even Ryuto were starting to get impatient. "Recall what I said earlier?" he asked the group as a whole. All he received in return was a blank look. "I said it seems our work here is not yet done."

"But that was like _months_ ago!" Tithi complained. "We were supposed to connect your vague statement all the way back to that? Besides, Ryuto and Chris weren't even there when you said it!"

Dynamis sighed. "It was a rhetorical question."

"Then why did you wait for us to answer?" Ryuto asked.

Dynamis gave up and plowed on ahead, ignoring the former Dragonis blader. "I think I know what's happening to us."

"You mean Chris," Tithi interjected.

"The stars don't shine anymore in the sky, they shine in us. Chris harnessed that power today; that's how he vaporized the shade and how he found us." The former Jupiter blader looked at them in wonder.

They all looked at him with odd expressions.

"I had heard the legends, ancient legends, many variations lost in the flow of time, but it must be true. First the stars themselves sealed Nemesis, then the Solar System Blader Warriors. Now it is the job of the Legendary Bladers of the four seasons. If the stars are not in the sky, it must mean that they are here, hidden inside their chosen bladers."

Chris held his hands out and inspected them. "I don't _feel_ like Orion is inside me."

"Yet you _felt_ that you should fight the shades, just as you saw a light that led you to us," Dynamis pointed out.

"What about us? Do we have our planets' powers in us?" Tithi asked.

"I am nearly certain that is so, Tithi. And your Dragonis lies dormant within you as well, Ryuto. All we have to do is wake them up."

"How?" Ryuto asked.

"I have an idea," Dynamis said. "It may be slightly risky, but we've got to find out for sure if we have the stars' powers within us. Chris, you'll back us up."

"I'll what?" But the former Legendary Blader of Winter followed along as the Guardian of Mist Mountain exited the door he and Ryuto had just come through. Dynamis led them on a route Ryuto recognized well. "We're going to leave the maze? But it's nearly dark outside. It's way too dangerous!"

A shade stood in front of the group as they rounded a corner. Dynamis came to a stop. The shade went from a stop to a run, coming at them at full speed. Chris was frozen. Ryuto and Tithi hid around the corner they recently walked around. Dynamis stood and lifted his arms to the stony ceiling above them as if it as if it were the heavens, and offered up a request to the stars. "Stars above, even though you shine no longer on high, I call on you to reveal your light within me. Help me complete Gaia's will and fight Nemesis' shades."

The shade was almost upon him by now. Chris held out a hand, ready to summon his power the second the shade got a hold of Dynamis and tried to drain his life-energy.

CRASH! A blinding flash of light lit up the tunnels of the maze. Chris couldn't see anything for a long moment. When his eyes finally saw something other than white, he saw the expression of awe on Dynamis' face. Ryuto and Tithi had crept back around the corner when they had seen the flash of light as well.

"We saw the light!" Tithi exclaimed excitedly.

"What exactly happened?" Ryuto asked.

Dynamis turned to face them. "Grand Lightning, my Jade Jupiter's special move. It seems I have inherited its power and can summon lightning bolts with which to smite my enemies."

"My Orion's Barnard's Loop special move used light energy to defeat an opponent. So I guess that is how I got my own light powers," realized Chris.

"So my Quetzalcoatl will give me a power too?" Tithi asked happily. Ryuto wanted an answer too.

"I can only believe it is so," Dynamis answered.

"Let's keep going then! If I have a power I want to find it too!" Ryuto said, taking over the lead.

Soon another shade stood before them. "My turn now!" Ryuto wasn't running away this time. Tithi stood next to him as well.

The shade came at them, arms outstretched to drain their energy the moment it touched them. Ryuto pointed the first two fingers of his right hand at the shade and hoped with all his heart this would work. A bolt of green energy leapt from the tips of his fingers to the shade, disintegrating it in an instant. "All right, I did it! Did you see that Dynamis? Chris? Tithi?"

The Guardian of Mist Mountain was smiling. Chris even had a hint of a grin on his normally stern face. Tithi would surely be jumping for joy if he were there. "Where did Tithi go? He was right next to me."

Chris looked around calmly for the kid while panic crept into Dynamis' eyes.

"Guys, I'm right here!" the voice of the missing one sounded right next to Ryuto. "Wait, I can't see my arm! Aaah!" The voice got quieter as its source ran down the maze corridor.

Dynamis and the others hightailed it after the former Legendary Blader of Venus, follow his voice as it echoed down the halls. Then his screams suddenly stopped. The three rounded a corner and saw a pack of at least ten shades standing about one hundred meters away. Tithi was nowhere to be seen. It only took a second for the shades to process that some tasty energy now stood within reach, and they rushed as a mass toward the group.

Dynamis felt a tug on his robes, but saw nothing. "Is that you, Tithi?"

"Yes," came the meek reply.

By now, Ryuto was blasting shades one by one with electric green bolts, and Chris was doing the same with his red laser-like light beams.

"What happened to me?" Tithi asked.

"You found your power: invisibility," Dynamis soothed him.

"But I want to fight! How will this help me fight?"

At this point, Dynamis realized that he couldn't see himself now. "Tithi, your power can be bestowed to others. You can sneak around and make your allies invisible so they can ambush the shades. They'll never be seen coming thanks to you. Now I just need you to undo the invisibility."

"How?"

"Think happy thoughts. We're safe for now."

"Okay." Tithi scrunched up his invisible face and thought of going to get ice cream with Yu when this was all over. And of bey battling, of course.

Dynamis blinked. He could see himself again, and Tithi. "Hey Dynamis! We could use some help over here!"

The shades were drawing closer. "They're pouring in from outside!" yelled Chris over the shrieks of vanishing shades. More simply took their place though.

Dynamis tucked Tithi safely behind him and stretched out his arms. A blinding bolt of lightning crashed through the maze and struck the entrance, vaporizing shades and blocked the entrance with rubble.

After Chris and Ryuto picked off the few shades remaining, the latter spoke: "Great, how are we going to get out now?"

"Chris can probably disintegrate the rubble with his power. We will deal with that tomorrow though. We all know our powers now, at least. We should go rest. It has been a more trying day than usual."

They all nodded in agreement. "Hey Tithi, can you make me invisible?" Ryuto asked.

"Sure!" They young boy focused really hard and touched Ryuto's hand. Sure enough, he was invisible!

"Now try me." Even Chris was intrigued. Tithi did the same, but it didn't work. The second he removed his hand from Chris', the blond was as visible as normal.

"Huh. I guess I can only make only one person invisible at a time on their own. But…" He reached out and took both Dynamis and Chris by the hand. All three promptly vanished. "If I keep in contact with you, you will be able to be invisible too!" He let go and Dynamis, Chris and himself reappeared.

"Hey, I'm still invisible over here!" Ryuto cried out. "At first it was cool, but now I can't see where my feet are going!"

"Picture yourself visible. Maybe that will work," suggested Dynamis after Tithi had unsuccessfully tried to make Ryuto visible with his own willpower.

Ryuto appeared. "I can see my feet now!"

Everyone laughed and followed Dynamis back to the temple. The day had certainly been an interesting one.

xXxXx

The morning after they touched down in Hong Kong, Toby and Zeo were finally admitted to see Pluto, along with Jack. It was much of the same lecture Jack had given them the previous day. Pluto added that they would be teamed up with a few of his own men – though none of them had powers.

"Every night they lure the shades into one location and trap them with an earth power that splits the ground open and swallows them up. I simply need you to run with the shades to that location and deal with whoever this Crimson Flash and his followers are. I take it you'll have some way to counter this earth power of the Crimson Flash."

Toby nodded. His telekinesis could float himself, Zeo and Jack above any cracks in the earth.

"Usually before any helicopters can make it to the area, the Crimson Flash and his flock of disciples have already vacated the premises," Pluto spat with obvious distaste. "This time, I'll have copters on the roof of every building with a helipad, ready to take off at a moment's notice. We'll light up the area with overhead lights so you can more easily apprehend the rebels. It will all be done in no time at all."

Jack was grinning at the thought of a battle. Even Zeo looked a little interested. So why did Toby not feel anything but a hint of dread? Had Zeo so quickly forgotten how the two of them had fought so strongly against the rule of Nemesis?

"Do you have any former bladers in the city that could be doing this?" Zeo was curious. If they knew former bladers were the only ones with powers, why hadn't they caught the ones yet?

"Of course we do." Pluto knew what angle Zeo was coming at. "Do you think we haven't been keeping tabs on them? The four former members of Wang Hu Zhong have so far been model citizens. They return to their home before curfew and work regular jobs just like anyone else."

After Pluto dismissed them, Toby followed sullenly behind Jack and Zeo, back to the cushy quarters they would be inhabiting until that night. Toby tried to assure himself as he lay sprawled on his back in his spacious bed that after tonight everything would be better. They would stop this Crimson Flash and his gang and he and Zeo could go back to New York. No doubt Masamune would be back by then; King would probably be shipped back to Sparta any day now, if he hadn't already. Then the three friends could live the rest of their lives in relative comfort, peace and safety. At least, that's how it worked out in Toby's mind.

xXxXx

"And remember how we rolled down the street in the dome still battling?" Masamune laughed as he and King swapped stories of the good old days, before Nemesis' rule.

During Masamune's guard sessions, the two were left virtually unsupervised. Sure there were security cameras, but the two seriously doubted any of Cycnus' lackeys would be watching it every second of every day while munching a bag of potato chips or something. So whenever Masamune's shifts were starting or ending, he made sure to look either stiff and at attention or absolutely bored out of his mind. Damian often worked opposite shifts from the former Gan Gan Galaxy blader, but a few of Cycnus' inner circle were also included in the rotation.

King's 'rehabilitation' as it was being called, was going poorly according to the psychiatrist he was seeing. Argo, needless to say, was none too happy. How on earth they thought King would 'come back around' through a psychiatrist asking him how he felt about things was something Masamune and King laughed about all the time.

"I haven't forgotten," King was now telling his friend, "how close we came to defeating Nemesis. The four hearts of the Seasonal Legendary Bladers were one only for an instant, but that barrier it created… I felt the power. Now look at us. We each have a power locked inside us, given to us by our beys. I have Ares' sword and shield, you have Striker's speed."

Masamune looked hopeful for a bit before his expression dimmed. "But I have no idea where the other former Legendary Bladers are. Nemesis' network has been absolutely silent about them."

"Keep trying, I believe in you." King smiled at his friend.

Masamune opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the opening of the room's door. It was Damian.

"Since your visits to the psychiatrists are _clearly_ not going anywhere, Argo has decided to leave you in my hands. Trust me, I can be _very_ convincing." The former Kerbecs blader had a glint in his eye as he slowly dragged a chair over to the glass by King.

Masamune looked on worriedly until Damian glared at him, commanding him to leave. He quickly skedaddled.

"Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Damian said with a grin. "Look, Nemesis already rules. You can tell by the fact that I have powers that I didn't support him at the beginning, but I realized my place in this world soon after and became basically the second in command in Boston, only to Cycnus himself. The same can be said for you if you accept your place. Argo will no longer subject you to gladiator fights with your new powers. You can find a place at his side and be a leader in this new world." Damian stood and dragged his chair away. "Think about it," he tossed over his shoulder as he left and another guard entered, leaving King to ponder the words on his own.

xXxXx

After a long day of sitting around waiting for Madoka and Hikaru to return from work, everyone was excited for night – possibly for the first time since the black sun took to the sky. Kyoya and Nile had been out and about all day scouting a good place to train the lot of them, and had brought back some fresh-caught fish for dinner. Tsubasa had a fire rip-roaring and they roasted them on sticks instead of frying them up in the camper.

Madoka and Hikaru were well-pleased with the dinner and agreed to go watch the training for a few hours before heading back to the camper to rest up for their next day at work. Kyoya and Nile led the way to the spot they had decided on. It was in a small clearing next to a shallow stream.

Nile set up a perimeter dome that encompassed the river, clearing, and the part of the woodlands. "This will be the safe zone for everyone not training." He then sliced the dome with another glowing wall so that it was cut into a section of one third and two thirds respectively. "The larger area will be for those training. Those watching can take a seat in the smaller section. I will open the training dome, let a shade in, and try to trigger each of your powers."

"Okay, now who wants to go first?" Kyoya asked with a smirk. Yu and Tsubasa stood at the same time. "Tsubasa, you can go first," the former Leone blader decided before Yu threw the hissy fit he knew he would.

Sure enough, the boy sat down next to Gingka with a pout on his face. "So stinky!" he complained.

Tsubasa entered the larger side of the dome through the gap created by Nile. Kyoya walked through as well. When the former Eagle blader gave him an odd look he just shrugged. "Can't have you dying on us. That being said, I won't step in unless absolutely necessary."

"What do you mean by that?" Hikaru asked worriedly.

"Hopefully you won't need to find out," was all he replied with.

Tsubasa analyzed the terrain. Water for if his power was based on that element – which he doubted – a clearing that would allow for easy movement, a high dome, and a few trees on the far side.

"Okay." His reverie was interrupted by Nile. "I'm letting in the first shade."

A small hole appeared in one side of the shield. One shade squeezed through before Nile sealed the gap back up. There were several shades standing near the opaque barrier, having learned their lesson about pounding on it to break it. The shades could see only the blurry figures of those inside. Only those who were allowed to enter would be able to identify them to Nemesis and then Rago, and at this point, Kyoya and Nile were fairly certain that the two of them had been on the Nemesis radar for a while.

Tsubasa faced the shade as it rushed toward him and prepared to fight. He dodged one attack. Then another and another. Kyoya frowned from up in the tree he was perched in. No no no, this simply would not do. "Reach inside yourself, find your power within!" he shouted down.

"I'm trying!" Tsubasa yelled, dodging again.

"Try harder Tsubasi!" Yu advised wisely, but not very helpfully.

Kyoya motioned to Nile. "Let another one in. Clearly one isn't enough to wake up Eagle."

Tsubasa's eyes widened. "What?! I can barely evade this one!"

Nile paid him no heed and opened the shield enough to let one more shade in.

 _Evade, evade, evade_ , the words echoed in Tsubasa's head as the second shade rushed for him. In the blink of an eye, he found himself far above the shades, hovering just below the top of the dome.

He heard clapping; it was Kyoya, up in his tree. "Well done. You have the ability of flight."

 _Just like my Eagle_ , Tsubasa thought as the former Leone blader leapt from his perch and landed between the two shades. He spread his arms and twin tornadoes ripped the shades apart in an instant. "You still want to go next, Yu?" he asked as Tsubasa walked to the other side of the dome.

"Of course Yo-Yo!" Yu ran over to the other side of the dome with all of his usual hyperness.

"Call me that again and I'll leave you for the shades," Kyoya deadpanned.

"Yes sir!" Yu saluted happily.

Kyoya growled and reclaimed his tree perch.

"All right Libra, go time!" Yu laughed as a shade entered his section. He recalled what Yo-Yo (he could still call him that in his mind, after all, just not out loud) had said to Tsubasa about finding his power by reaching for it inwardly. The boy scrunched up his face in concentration and felt for Libra's familiar presence and energy.

"There it is!" he yelled, opening his eyes wide; the shade was right on top of him! Green waves came off him accompanied by a loud noise which the others knew to be the sound of his special move Inferno Blast. The shade vanished swiftly after the assault of Yu's power, and the boy stopped giving it off soon after.

"Good lord, if we have to deal with that noise and raw energy in battle, it will be disastrous, not to mention grate at my nerves," Kyoya announced for all to hear.

"You'll need to train in order to funnel your power more efficiently," Nile explained. "That raw energy could harm enemies and allies alike. I had to do the same with my wind power. It started off like yours, but with a bit of training I was able to channel it through my palms like this." Nile demonstrated by shooting a few air currents at the ground, creating divots.

"Coolio!" Yu said excitedly as Nile let him through to the other side of the dome. "Wait, I'm not going to keep training right now?"

"No. The others must unlock their powers and then we will train you on a more individual basis," Nile told him as Yu sat on the ground again. "So who's up next?"

For a long moment, no one moved. Then Yuki stepped up. "As a Legendary Blader chosen by a star fragment, it is my duty to unlock my power and defeat Nemesis. I shall go next."

"Nice speech, but you can't talk the shades into death by boredom. Get in there." Yuki glared at Kyoya briefly, but backed down after meeting his eyes. Some things weren't worth arguing about in the face of the situation.

He walked over to the other side of the clearing and was sealed in. A single shade entered, and he searched inside himself for that hint of Anubius and the energy of the star fragment that had made him one of the Legendary Bladers. He felt a tiny spark and reached for it. And suddenly felt cold all over.

A strong wind rushed past him and Kyoya now stood before him. "Watch it! You can never lose focus in battle!"

Yuki gulped, realizing the shade had nearly drained his life away. Fortunately, Kyoya had shredded it before it could take any important energy. Still, Yuki felt more fatigued than he had earlier. "I'm okay. I felt a spark inside. I'll be able to draw it out next time."

Kyoya nodded and reclaimed his spot, gesturing for Nile to let in another shade.

This time, Yuki was ready. He let that spark control him and dodged the shade's first rush. He ran straight for the wall of the dome and before he knew it, he was standing upside down on the ceiling. The shade on the ground paced back and forth but couldn't get at him. Kyoya blasted it with a tornado and Yuki ran safely down the side of the dome.

"Interesting," was all Kyoya said.

"Antigravity," Yuki said proudly. "My Anubius had a super low center of gravity, and I can defy gravity!"

"Well done Yuki," Madoka praised him. At this rate, she and Hikaru would be able to see all of their friends discover their powers before having to leave and get some sleep. The only one left was Kenta, who stood and walked in to face a shade.

"Give him a little time to search himself for his power," Kyoya advised Nile.

"No."

The former Wild Fang members gave him a look, asking if he was sure.

"I can do this just fine." Kenta was unsettled by the second glance that passed between the two. Was that expectancy? They were expecting something out of him, and not a Legendary Blader like Yuki? Whatever. He would find his power and use it to help defeat Nemesis.

Looking inward but keeping his eyes open, he watched as the shade bore down on him. It reached out an arm to touch him and drain him, but instead of recoiling, Kenta reached out as well. As his hand touched the shade's, he wasn't drained though. It was the shade that reared back with an inhuman shriek. Kenta's hand, which was now on fire, had burned it!

Kyoya leaned further forward in his tree, looking at the flames intently. Kenta was staring at his hand; not with shock or wonder but determination. He wanted to make the god of destruction pay for what he had done to the one he had followed for weeks and learned to look up to. With a cry in his throat, the boy sent a whirl of flame flying at the shade, which had no time to dodge and disintegrated on impact.

"Now _that's_ how you take out a shade," Kyoya said approvingly. "Looks like you were right, Nile."

"Right about what?" Kenta seriously wanted to know why those two kept singling him out.

"Congratulations, kid. You likely possess the summer star fragment, and will take Ryuga's place as the holder of its power," Kyoya told him.

Unlike he thought, though, Kenta wasn't excited at all. Instead, he started to cry. "W-w-why?"

Nile took down the barrier splitting the dome, and Gingka and Madoka rushed to comfort their friend.

"I know you considered him your friend and mentor, Kenta," Gingka tried to console him. "Think of this as his parting gift to you."

Clearly that was _not_ the right thing to say. Kenta just bawled louder.

"Look Kenchi," Yu said, coming over. "Ryuga wouldn't want you to get all weepy over him. He would want you to train as hard as he always did and fight with as much power as he had against Nemesis. He would want you to work with the other Legendary Bladers and end the sway Nemesis holds over the world, don't you think?"

Kenta nodded and dried his eyes. "Teach me," he told Kyoya and Nile.

"Yes," Kyoya told him. "Nile, start on the training portion for all of them. I'll be back as soon as I get Madoka and Hikaru safely back to the camper."

 _Can you see me? Are you up there, Ryuga?_ Kenta thought, looking up into the darkened sky past Nile's dome. _I will use the power you left behind and make you proud._


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow, this chapter snuck up on me! The first two big battles I had been planning happened to fall in the same chapter (though I tried to get them not to). Please enjoy!**

* * *

It was show time. Toby and Zeo put on all black to blend with the shades and even had black hats to hide their hair, which was especially necessary for Toby, whose light hair would stand out in stark contrast to the blackish purple color of a shade. Pulling their gloves on, the two friends headed to the building's front entrance, where a similarly dressed Jack met them. He opened the door with a grin, and the three of them dispersed throughout the area, following the nearest shades.

For a long while, none of them saw anything out of the ordinary. Then the two friends heard Jack's voice speaking through their earpieces. "Yo! My group of shades and I are following a Crimson Flash all right. Status report?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing. Oh wait!" That was Zeo. "Some sort of giant just appeared out of thin air in front of us. It's too dark to make out any features, but the shades and I are hot on its heels!"

Silence reigned for a long while. Then Toby spoke. "There's someone running down the street. It looks like they have a shield of… water? That must be their power!" He raced along with the shades after the runner.

His group soon met up with Zeo and Jack's and milled around. The shades were lunging for the ones they had been chasing, but the Crimson Flash had vanished along with the giant, while the Crimson Flash had vanished along with the giant, while the shades battered at but could not get through the shield-person's defenses. A final group of shades arrived, driven along by surging lava which seemed to be directed by the person running in back of them. The lava crusted and cooled at the command of whoever it was. Toby could see the person make their escape into an abandoned building nearby.

As he made this observation, the ground split beneath them all and they began to fall. Quickly, he jerked himself, Zeo and Jack to a halt and raised them back up to level ground with a few shades he was able to save as well. Just in the nick of time too: the earth shuddered and closed up, causing the multitude of shades to vanish back to the black sun. Toby placed those he had saved back on the ground.

"I don't get it. Shades can fly now?" a clearly female voice spoke from behind the water shield.

"Look closer. Those aren't shades. They must be the people I heard Pluto talking about on the phone a few days ago." This voice came from near the water-shield girl. Jack could just barely make out a smaller figure next to her.

"So you know about us, huh?" Jack smirked. "Too bad the lot of you criminals will have to be apprehended and brought to justice." He turned to Toby and Zeo. "Ready yourselves. Oof!"

Jack went flying backward as a red light flickered in front of him too fast for his eye to track. Zeo pulled a few iron bearings out of his pack and sent them shooting toward the dark figure only a few feet from him with his magnetic powers.

Somehow he missed. In a flash of red, the figure was suddenly yards away, standing by another larger figure, who spoke. "You there, how can you work for the one who destroyed our world?"

Jack spat at the ground, standing up. "Don't think about doing that again," he said, pointedly ignoring the question posed. "Or you'll only injure yourself."

"You dare threaten us?" the smaller figure spoke up, the one who was the Crimson Flash. "We outnumber you five to three."

Sure enough, Zeo noted. The shades Toby had managed to save had already been taken out by the lava guy. The eerie glow of molten metal was all that remained of the abandoned building he had ducked into, and the shades trying to get at him had been crisped back to the black sun.

"It's just the three of us, are you sure we can take them Jack?" asked Toby.

"Don't panic newbies," he replied. "Pluto's choppers have just lifted off and will be here in a few minutes. We only have to hold them off until the reinforcements arrive." The slight light from the few stars left in the sky glinted off Jack's exposed skin. He had called upon his power.

"Quick, you heard them!" the Crimson Flash called to his comrades. In an instant, he was at Jack's side launching a roundhouse kick into his stomach.

 _Clang!_ The Crimson Flash howled with pain. "This guy is steel, watch out!"

Water girl started advancing, shields raised, with lava guy and the bigger guy behind her. The short guy suddenly turned into a giant and lumbered forward, raising a foot to crush the three of them. Toby tripped him up with a burst of telekinesis and the giant fell, crushing several buildings on the way down. Zeo fired iron spheres at the girl at high speeds with his powers.

"Ouch!" her shields splashed apart, but the spheres only bruised her slightly. "He cancelled out my power!"

While she and her two companions tried to figure out what had just happened, Zeo imposed his will on the steel building frames of the towers the giant – who had disappeared – had knocked over. The bars bent, twisted, and formed a cage trapping the three of them inside. "Hey!" the girl yelled.

Zeo ignored her and turned to face the remaining one. The Crimson Flash appeared to have recovered from kicking Jack and was now dodging and weaving the former Starbreaker member's attacks with all the ease that his superspeed granted him. Still, he couldn't attack and risk disabling himself for good this time. "Aguma!" he shouted. "Lend a hand, would you?"

Toby and Zeo froze. Aguma. One of the Legendary Bladers.

"Melt the bars, Dashan! Bao needs me," one of the three in the cage, who was obviously Aguma, roared. He clearly had superstrength, as he was deforming the steel bars with his bare hands, but it wasn't enough to grant the three trapped inside an escape route.

So Zeo had been right. The Chinese team was here, but with Bao and Aguma as well.

The first of Pluto's helicopters chose that moment to show up. "Raise your arms and surrender," a magnified voice came down as its light shone on Dashan, Mei-Mei, Aguma and Bao. Before anyone could answer, giant Chi-yun showed up and grabbed the helicopter in one fist, tossing it to the ground like it was a play toy before shrinking back to normal size.

Dashan glared at the three facing him as the cage he, Mei-Mei and Aguma had been stuck in still glowed red-hot behind him. "So they sent the former Starbreaker team after us," he said. "Zeo, Toby, I thought you fought at the side of the Legendary Bladers! What happened?"

Jack laughed. "The Legendary Bladers are done for. They lost. The path to freedom lies in embracing the new world order."

"I find it interesting that you answered a question not meant for you, Jack," Bao said. "Zeo and Toby can speak for themselves."

"Yeah yeah," Jack kept talking. "Whatever. You guys aren't that strong."

The earth opened up under him. "Toby, quick!" he gasped out, clinging to one side of the cliff he now hung over.

Toby made no move to save Jack, though. "It's not like we _wanted_ Nemesis to take over. We were simply living our lives normally until Herschel took us in and taught us about our powers. We chose what was best for us at the time; going with the flow."

Aguma nodded, closing the earth around Jack, trapping him.

"Hah! You won't be able to crush me! My whole body is steel!" the former Befall blader cackled madly. "Toby, Zeo, help me out and together we can turn these five into a great work of art! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Zeo frowned. "Our time working with Nemesis is at an end," he told Jack. Then he turned to Aguma. "Quickly, we need to leave before the rest of Pluto's helicopters get here."

Mei-Mei gasped. "Chao Xin! He's still back at the house!"

"I can collect him," Bao offered. "Where should we meet up?"

"The northeast side of town," Dashan decided. "I have a plan for where we will go."

Bao left in his usual flash of light. "Come on," Chi-yun told Toby and Zeo. "I'll lead the way. Are you coming Aguma and Dashan?"

"Finish him off, Dashan. He may be steel, but even steel melts under extreme heat," Aguma told the leader of Wang Hu Zhong.

Jack blanched. "What!? No! You can't kill meeeeee!"

"No," Dashan stated firmly. "Let's hurry to the rendezvous point. I will not kill a helpless enemy."

"Helpless? We'll see who's helpless once Damian gets here!" Jack spat as Aguma and Dashan jogged off with Toby and Zeo to catch up to Mei-Mei and Chi-yun.

"Is Damian really coming?" Dashan asked.

"Nope. He's still back in the US," Toby replied with certainty.

"And so is Masamune," Zeo said. "Toby, what have we done?" He had, after all, strictly warned Masamune to stay in line. And if _he_ had disregarded his own advice, how much more would their friend?

"Chill Zeo. I'm sure Masamune is doing just fine, probably chatting with King as we speak," Toby reassured him.

"I sure hope you're right," Zeo replied as the sky behind them lit up with choppers which had come just a few minutes too late.

xXxXx

It was a clear day, great weather for flying, Julian mused, putting the plane on autopilot so he could sit in the comfy seats in the middle of the plane with Sophie, Wales and Klaus. He brought out his personal laptop dedicated to Project Galahad and hooked up a small black box with a USB cable to it.

"The project is almost complete, I take it," Wales said, looking over.

"Indeed," Julian replied. "I should be able to initiate it after our retrieval of King. It would be a great opportunity to share our success with the other bladers with powers around the world. I have a feeling the endgame will be coming soon."

Having said that, the former Excalibur members settled in for the long ride to Boston, Massachusetts.

xXx

"So he just talked to you, that's it?" Masamune had been certain King was about to be viciously attacked by Damian and told to join Nemesis again or die.

"Yes." King was puzzled too. "Should I go along willingly? It sounds like I would end up no worse than you and him: glorified bodyguards for him and his siblings."

"Only you can make that call King," Masamune told him. "Let's talk about something else. This is depressing."

"Yeah! Remember when you introduced me to Team Dungeon?" King asked. "Those were the days…"

"Of course!" Masamune grinned. "You learned that being super strong isn't bad when you have tough opponents to battle. Like me! The world's best number one bla-"

EEERRR! EEERRR! What in the world? Why was _that_ alarm going off?

xXx

Julian guided the private jet down in a field on the outskirts of Boston. Sophie's intel pinpointed King being held directly inside Cycnus' headquarters, which inconveniently for them were located in the middle of the city. The plan was simple: Sophie, Wales and Klaus would go in, fight off anyone guarding King, and spirit him back to the jet, which Julian would then fly them all away in. There would be plenty of material for the three to put to good use with their powers within the city. Still, Julian would be on call if necessary.

The former leader of Excalibur punched the buttons on the consul to program the takeoff of the plane. If Sophie, Wales or Klaus needed to fly the plane, they could now do so. Julian took a seat back in the main passenger hold and set upon finishing up Project Galahad.

Meanwhile, the other three former Excalibur members snuck through the city, as stealthy as possible. An attack in broad daylight would mean few shades if any would be lurking, but it gave Cycnus' men a more visible target, that was for sure. Still, as a group it had been decided that daylight would be better. Then they could see better too.

"That must be it." Wales pointed to a fancy-looking building that had guards stationed around its perimeter.

"It looks like the place I saw in my investigations online," reported Sophie.

"What are we waiting for? Let's break in!" Klaus leapt from their hiding place, grabbing a steel beam from a pile of rubble at their feet and rushed at the guards with a yell.

Sophie and Wales shared an exasperated look, but ran after Klaus. They couldn't leave him out there all alone, after all. The guards jumped to attention and yelled "Let it rip!" At least twenty beys swarmed toward Klaus. He swept his steel beam across the ground, knocking the beys away and continuing on toward the guards themselves. The guards fell before Klaus' superstrength, opening the way to the front door of the building.

"Go in!" Klaus roared as he continued to battle the guards. "I can handle these chumps."

Sophie and Wales didn't need to be told twice. They raced in the door and down the steps in front of them. A dungeon would be in the basement, one would think. As they reached a door at the bottom, an alarm sounded, but only twice. Why only twice? There was no time to question it. The Cetus duo opened the door, which wasn't even locked, and saw Masamune standing with his hands over his ears and a similarly positioned King inside a glass box, which was like a room inside a room.

"Aah! Excalibur!" Masamune started running circles around the room at impossibly fast speeds.

"King! Is Masamune trying to get you out?" Sophie asked. Perhaps the former Gan Gan Galaxy member had triggered an alarm.

"No." King looked confused. "Masamune is guarding me." He looked at the panicking teen. "And doing a great job," he added drily.

"We don't have time for this nonsense. Sophie?" Wales raised an arm. Sophie copied. Water flowed from the sinks in the other room down the stairs and onto the floor. The two then froze it so Masamune slipped.

"Ow," he complained.

"Listen up. We're breaking King out, and if you get in our way you're going down," barked Wales.

Masamune stood up. "Okay. How do we break him out?"

 _Well that was easier than expected,_ thought Sophie. "Try kicking the glass at superspeed. King, try to bust out from the inside at the same spot. The two nodded. "On three," King said, sword and shield of Ares in hand. "One, two, three!" He banged the electrified shield into the glass at the same time Masamune side-kicked it. The glass cracked, spider-webbing, but did not shatter.

"I'll take it from here." Sophie directed some water into the cracks and froze it, shattering the glass. King gingerly stepped out of the box, free at last. "Now who triggered that alarm if it wasn't Masamune? And why did it only go off twice?"

"One of the guards must have set it off. You must have attacked them to break in here, right?" Masamune asked. He then continued. "That's the big alarm. I know it because it's the same one Herschel told us he would set off if he ever needed me, Zeo and Toby." He suddenly blanched. "This is _not_ good at all. We should hurry out the back exit right now. I'll lead the way."

"No. Klaus is up there keeping the guards off our tails. We've got to go out the front. We can handle the extra guards that alarm called in," Wales insisted. Sophie nodded in agreement.

"Guard," Masamune corrected.

"Only one?" Sophie was confused.

"It's Damian. If he's up there, Klaus will need all the help he can get." Masamune followed the Cetus pair up the stairs, telling them what he knew. "I've seen him summon up a three-headed dog that he calls Cerberus with only a gesture. And Herschel told us he repaired the Empire State Building after it got shot up. He's super powerful!"

"Well, maybe Klaus got him with a beam," Wales said hopefully. The group charged into daylight and found Klaus unconscious on the ground with what looked like claw marks all over him.

"We're too late," Masamune groaned. "But we can still save ourselves. Follow my lead."

"Not so fast Masamune Kadoya." _For someone so short, Damian sure casts a long shadow_ , the former Striker blader thought. Oh wait, that was because he was standing on a balcony above them all.

 _If he's really that powerful, we should call in Julian for backup_ , thought Sophie. She reached in her pocket and tapped a button on her phone, speed dialing their leader that there was an emergency.

"Go get Klaus, we'll hold him off as long as we can," King told Sophie and Wales. He charged Damian with a battle cry, sword of Ares raised in front of him.

The former Starbreaker member merely smirked. "You're not worth my time, even if you _were_ a Legendary Blader."

Ten guards stormed out the front door of the building, armed not with beys but guns. "Masamune! Get behind me!" King stopped the bullets with Ares' shield, protecting Masamune, the Cetus pair and the unconscious Klaus as well. While they were safe behind King, Sophie and Wales made small motions with their hands and poured water out of the earth and plumbing systems, washing away the guards and rendering their weapons useless.

Damian saw it coming and raised a hand, creating a wall of fire and evaporating the part of the wave coming for him. "Hmm… It seems Argo doesn't really care if he gets you back dead or alive if those guys were using guns," Damian told King. Then he shrugged. "Or maybe Cycnus isn't flying by the rules."

The Cetus pair recovered from their shock. Since they only fought shades, whom their powers worked against one hundred percent of the time, having their water diverted was a surprise. Still, Masamune had warned them, and Julian would be there soon. They each took one of Klaus' arms over their shoulders and half-dragged him down the street.

"Where do you think you're going?" Damian drawled, waving a hand and walking down stairs of flames until he was at the same level as them all. "I cannot simply allow you to escape, even if I don't think much of you." He let out a long sigh and waved one hand. His favorite pet, Cerberus, appeared crouched and growling before the two former Excalibur members.

Sophie and Wales dropped Klaus and tossed up a wall of water to defend themselves from the three-headed dog's fiery breath. The two powers cancelled each other out in a cloud of steam.

"King! I'll go after Damian directly, you take on that fire dog!" Masamune yelled.

King leapt for Cerberus, blocking its claws with his shield and drawing a long gash down its leg with his charged sword. Cerberus' three heads bombarded him with flames, and he crouched behind his shield, sweating. The attack didn't stop though. It just kept coming. What was Masamune doing?

King glanced over, keeping a tight grip on his shield, and saw his friend was in trouble. Damian had created himself a fiery bow that shot flaming arrows, and it took all of Masamune's superspeed to dodge both them _and_ the jets of lava that shot up randomly from the ground all around Damian.

Thankfully, the Cetus pair made their move, swamping Cerberus with water and freeing King to attack again. Unfortunately, Cerberus just used the same strategy, trapping King yet again. This time, Sophie and Wales were busy helping Masamune by covering the ground with a thin layer of water to stop the lava jets. Damian simply raised a hand and a slight pedestal rose beneath him, keeping his feet dry. His bow and arrows vanished and he spread his arms wide, sending flames to dry the water and stepping off his platform with a laugh.

With another gesture, three more three-headed dogs appeared. "Now there's one for each of you. Three times the fun!"

Sophie, Wales and Masamune grit their teeth as the former two put up a thick wall of water to protect them. As the steam grew thicker, they grew more desperate. "We need a plan now!" Wales hissed.

Masamune looked around with wide eyes. King was still sheltering behind his shield and the three of them were trapped. "I knew he was strong, but this is too much! We need to leave now! Can you keep the water up and move Klaus at the same time?"

"Yes. The wall requires motion to set up, but once in place we can hold it with our minds," Sophie said.

"Okay. Let's do this." Masamune zipped over to Klaus and tried to pull him up. Wales helped him and together they began tottering away. Sophie washed over the Cerberus King was fighting and dragged him upright, telling him to run. Then, everything went wrong.

The wall of water collapsed under the sheer force of Damian's fire attack. The three Cerberuses bounded after their prey, followed by the fourth as it shook water from its fur. One pinned Sophie to the ground with a single paw.

"Give up or she dies!" Damian waved a hand and the other three giant dogs vanished.

"No! Sophie!" cried Wales. King and Masamune stood in shock.

"Black Excalibur!" A giant blade pierced Cerberus straight through and it roared as it disintegrated.

"What?!" Damian could hardly believe it. "Oh, you have backup. Good. This will make our fight more interesting." He spread his arms to summon his favorite pet and some more fire, only to be suddenly stuck in place.

"Julian!" Sophie and Wales shouted.

"You two get Klaus back to the jet. I have it preprogrammed to take off and fly us back to my villa. I'll hold him off." Julian had a red aura around him. "King, attack him while I hold him in place with the Eyes of Medusa!"

Kind didn't need to be told twice. He ran at Damian, sword of Ares held high.

"No!" Damian shrieked, frozen as King approached. Then his usual smirk reappeared. "Just kidding."

A solid wall shot up from the ground in front of King. The Greek never saw it coming and smashed right into it with a solid thud.

"King!" Masamune sprinted over, shaking his friend, but King was out cold.

The wall slowly sunk back into the ground. "You fools! Freezing me in place will do nothing. My power lies solely in my imagination, and you can never freeze that!"

Julian's red aura dissipated. "Masamune, take King to the jet. I'll slowly back my way there. Then I need you to run circles around Damian and catch the plane right before it takes off, you got that?"

"Yes sir!" Masamune flung King over one shoulder, thanking the stars that Herschel's special training had made him more physically fit than ever before, and ran as fast as he could to the jet, getting there at the same time as the Excalibur three.

He told them the plan, and as they watched, sure enough, Julian appeared on the horizon, cleaving into the skeletal warriors that Damian had created with his Black Excalibur sword.

The former member of Starbreaker laughed as he steadily advanced. It was good fortune that he had not heard the plan Julian told quietly to Masamune earlier. "You're retreating. What? Are you scared to fight me? You know you can't defeat me."

Julian didn't bother to reply. He simply parried and thrusted, his heavenly sword ripping through the enemies like a hot knife through butter. Damian simply replaced those fallen with more. No, if they were going to win, they somehow, impossibly needed to get through Damian's defenses. However, they did not need to win. Julian only needed to come a little further; the plane was now in sight.

Cerberus suddenly appeared underneath Damian. "Finish him!" the teen called out from his seat on the dog's back. This was the greatest battle he'd fought to date!

Julian leapt out of the way of the three heads' snarling attack, but got caught in the inferno they sent after him the second he dodged. He lunged to the side so that the fire only scorched his legs, but the wounds were terrible. He collapsed to the ground. Wales and Sophie rushed over, having delivered Klaus to a seat on the plane. "Julian!"

Masamune rushed in and tried to run at Damian to super-punch him, but every angle he tried, he kept getting blocked by walls. Damian continued to stand in place and laugh as the former Striker blader tried to get at him.

Meanwhile, Sophie and Wales lay Julian safely inside the plane. "Window," he gasped to them. They sat him by a window and he looked out, glowing red once again.

"Come on Masamune!" Wales yelled, leaning out the door of the now moving jet. It was picking up speed.

Masamune poured on the speed, catching up to the jet. Damian howled and continued to block his path with walls, but now that he was so far away and unable to move, his powers were not as effective, and Masamune dodged all the roadblocks. He caught Wales' hand just as the jet lifted off and was flung inside as Wales slammed the door behind him.

"Whew, that was a close one." Masamune glanced over at Julian, whose red glow slowly faded as he relaxed his grip on Damian and let out a shuddering breath.

"Sophie, Wales," he whispered. The two leaned in to hear what their injured leader had to say. "Project Galahad is… complete. But it must not… be activated."

"What? But how else are we to find the rest of the strong former bladers and band them together to fight Nemesis?" asked Sophie. She knew how many long hours Julian had put into the project as well as anyone.

"As long as there are… former bladers like Damian," Julian gasped out through the pain, "we cannot… risk it. If the heavens… want us to fight Nemesis… they will have to give us a sign."

With that, Julian Konzern allowed himself to succumb to the darkness awaiting him as the jet flew off, back to his villa in Italy.

* * *

 **Stay tuned to find out what happens next! Chapter 11 features Kyoya and Nile's progress in training Gingka, Tsubasa and the others.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So sorry! I got busy yesterday and forgot to post the latest chapter. Here it is now. Enjoy!**

* * *

"That's cool!" Tithi jumped up and down as Chris demonstrated how he could change the frequency of his light to create different colors.

"Yeah, I wonder what the different colors do to shades," Ryuto wondered.

Dynamis walked over. "We can find out tonight."

Chris stopped using his powers. "We're finally opening the entrance back up?"

The entrance had remained blocked for several weeks while they all worked on mastering their powers in safety. Dynamis had made the decision alone. Ryuto suspected he was trying to make up for endangering them all in the first place by suggesting they go into the maze to find their powers.

"Yes," Dynamis replied. "We need some actual experience, not to mention food." The group was starting to run low again, and the Guardian of Mist Mountain doubted there was much left in the maze. They would have to chance it by going outside at some point. "I was thinking we leave now and get back in the evening. That way we'll adjust to being outside before having to battle our way through hordes of shades."

The others nodded in agreement and followed Dynamis to the locked entrance. Chris used his red laser beams to carve a spot large enough for them to exit out of the wall of rubble. As Dynamis exited last, he knocked the rubble back over the entrance. "What?" he asked as everyone looked at him weird. "We can't have shades wandering into the maze before we get back."

That made sense. Ryuto had taken the lead toward the village he knew to be closest to Mist Mountain. After an uneventful trek, the group found a little food to take back, but it was not enough to last more than a few days. And night was falling.

The group was about half-way back to the maze when Tithi spotted a shade. "I'll get it!" Ryuto volunteered.

"Me too!" Tithi grabbed his hand and they both vanished from sight.

Dynamis sighed. The former Quetzalcoatl blader had been pranking them all nonstop since discovering his power: turning himself visible right in front of someone to scare them, sticking out an invisible leg for them to trip over, and pretending he could teleport by standing on one side of the room, running to the other side invisibly, and then reappearing. Ryuto was the only one still amused by such antics. Chris didn't really seem to feel either way about it, while Dynamis' patience was certainly being tested. He felt they boy pranked him twice as much as Ryuto, and certainly more than Chris. After Tithi tripped the former Legendary Blader of Winter once, he had never done so again. Chris' glare scared him off. From then on, Tithi only did the teleport thing in front of Chris.

A flash of green voltage shot from nowhere to the shade and it vanished. A few moments later, Ryuto and Tithi appeared back by Chris and Dynamis, both grinning widely, and the four kept walking.

Here and there the group rotated who would take out the few shades they saw, but other than that, there was little of interest. Until they saw a larger group of shades that appeared to be heading straight toward their intended destination.

"I'll go see what's up." Chris broke into a run, going on alone. Tithi grabbed Ryuto and Dynamis, going invisible so as not to attract the group of shades over by them.

Chris blasted the shades down with his red beams of light until there were only a few left. Out of curiosity, he then switched to blue. The shades froze as if they had turned to ice and then shattered. A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Tithi was right, that _was_ cool. Chris looked around and saw two figures huddled near the entrance to the maze. They weren't behaving like shades, so he approached cautiously with one hand raised.

"We're not shades! Don't hurt us!" the smaller figure called out.

As they stepped into the slight glow of the dim night sky, Chris thought the larger one looked familiar. "You fought alongside the Legendary Bladers at the temple, didn't you?" he asked.

"B-b-b-bull! I did! I fought as hard as I could for me and Kyoya!"

"I'm Demure, and this guy over here is Benkei," Demure introduced both of them, as Benkei had started blubbering once again about not having seen Kyoya in what was now close to half a year. "We were on Team Wild Fang in the Beyblade World Championships, and our leader Kyoya was the Legendary Blader of Spring."

"I remember him all right," Chris recalled. "The Leone user."

By now, Tithi and the others had arrived, turning visible before Benkei and Demure's astonished eyes. "How did you do that?" Benkei asked in shock.

"My Quetzalcoatl gave me the power of invisibility!" Tithi told the newcomer and his friend excitedly.

"So that's how you laser beamed all those shades?" questioned Demure.

"Yes," Chris replied. "My Orion is within me, and its power enables me to manipulate light, much like it used to while still in its bey form."

"We can talk powers later," Dynamis interrupted. "We've got company. Chris, get everyone inside. I'll take care of them and then seal the entrance shut again."

Chris nodded. "Wait!" Benkei hoisted a few sacks on his back. "Okay, ready now!"

Chris lasered another gap in the entrance and Ryuto, Tithi, Benkei and Demure followed him in, the latter two peering out the gap to see what Dynamis' power entailed.

The former Jupiter blader held out a hand and several bolts of lightning fell from the clear night sky, dissipating the shades. He then turned and entered the maze, sealing the entrance behind him.

"We seriously need to invest in a door," Ryuto joked as they all made their way to the temple.

"What's in these bags?" Chris asked Benkei as they entered the temple.

"Food," he replied.

"Wow, with this much food we won't have to leave the maze again for several more weeks!" Ryuto exclaimed. He went to grab a bag and lift it, but found that it would hardly budge an inch. "Dude, these are heavy! How did you carry three of them at the same time?"

Benkei picked one up one-handed. "Are they heavy? I didn't notice…"

"Looks like you've already discovered you power," Dynamis told him.

"Carrying heavy sacks of food?" Benkei scratched his head. "I have superstrength?"

"It appears so." Tithi stood next to Dynamis, mimicking his serious tone. He soon talked in his usual excited way, though. "I have invisibility, you already saw Chris and Dynamis use their powers, and Ryuto has green electricity!"

"I suppose I have some power undiscovered as of yet," Demure commented.

"Most likely," Dynamis told him. "Join us and we will teach you all we know about our powers and how we got them. We can also help you find your own power."

 _It's not like we have somewhere else to go_ , Demure thought. _And besides, now I won't be the only one dealing with Benkei 24/7._ "Sounds like a plan," he told Dynamis.

xXxXx

"Listen up. Nile and I have agreed that you all are ready for a real night mission," Kyoya was telling Gingka, Tsubasa, Yu, Kenta and Yuki.

"Heck yeah! We've been training for two whole weeks!" Gingka fist pumped the air. "I thought you would hold us back _forever_." The former Pegasus blader had been in a good mood ever since his old rival had retuned. He felt the normalcy in their day to day conversations and the rush of battle when they sparred – superspeed versus superstrength. His uncharacteristic bitterness faded away, which Tsubasa and Madoka couldn't help but notice, even if some of the others were oblivious to the change in the first place. He had also discovered his second power after only two nights of training: flight.

Tsubasa felt slightly miffed that Gingka's second power was the same as his, but it made sense; a Pegasus needed wings as well as speed.

"Can it Gingka," Kyoya barked at his old rival, shutting Gingka up. "You're ready when we say you are. And today is that day."

It was true. They all had made significant progress the past two weeks. Tsubasa and Gingka had become more confident in their flying, now no longer fearful of falling; Gingka's speed had also improved with rigorous exercise; Yuki no longer had to exert total focus on his power, the antigravity came naturally to him when he needed it; Yu's Inferno Blast waves, as they all called his power, could now be focused out of his hands as Nile's air currents were, and fortunately for the sake of Kyoya's nerves, the ear-piercing sounds emitted were down from jet engine loud to car engine loud. Kenta's flames were stronger, but he had not yet discovered a second power as Kyoya and Nile had anticipated. They hoped this battle would scare up whatever other power the kid was hiding.

"We'll leave soon after Madoka and Hikaru get back," Nile went on. "It's best to attack under the cover of night because we're harder to see and the enemy is out in numbers, so our mission will have optimal effect. Until then, rest up. You'll need all the energy you can get for tonight."

With that, the group disassembled. Gingka and Tsubasa wisely went to bed, soon followed by Yuki and Kenta. Yu wanted to play catch, but Kyoya and Nile decided to rest in the camper kitchen where it was dark, so the former Libra blader gave up and took a nap under a tree, since to get to his bunk he would have to step over the sleeping forms of Kyoya and Nile, which he decided was never a good idea.

xXx

"Everyone's sleeping?" Madoka asked.

"Yep. Tonight Kyoya and Nile are taking us to the city to fight an actual mission against the shades!" Yu was practically bouncing as he told the two girls.

At that moment, the two former Wild Fang Members themselves appeared, exiting the camper. "We the second ones up?" Nile asked Yu, who nodded. "Go get Gingka and the others. We need to let them know the plan for tonight before we leave. And I'm sure they'll want to eat too."

"Food?" Yes, Gingka was up now as well. "Madoka, please tell me you got burgers!" His mouth watered at the thought.

"No, sorry Gingka," Madoka told him.

Hikaru walked over with a shopping bag. "We got fresh vegetables for dinner from the market downtown."

"That sounds… healthy." Yu didn't seem impressed.

The girls shrugged. There was no food that would make _everyone_ happy. After a free-for-all dinner of make-your-own salad, Kyoya and Nile gathered everyone around and told them they would be split in two groups: Gingka, Yuki and Kenta would be with Kyoya, while Tsubasa and Yu went with Nile.

"All the Legendary Bladers in one group?" asked Tsubasa. "Isn't it best if we split the power up?"

"No." Kyoya was blunt as ever.

"What he means is that we thought about it, but decided this was the best option." Nile smoothed over the former Leone blader's rough statement. "The Legendary Bladers need to be able to work together to end the reign of Nemesis while the others will be using their powers to fend off Rago, his hired bodyguards, and the few bladers left along with their hired help."

"So basically all the city leaders," Hikaru noted. She and Madoka were sticking around for the meeting and would be heading to the camper at its conclusion. A day after the first training session, Hikaru had attempted to awaken a power of her own with no success. She hadn't expected much in the first place, having not bladed much since two years ago at Battle Bladers. Now, she accepted her position alongside Madoka as a spectator, although it _was_ income from their jobs that left the others free to train at night and rest during the day.

"Yes," Nile acknowledged. "That will be the hard part. They have the advantage in numbers while of all the former bladers still remaining in the world, it seems only those who were World Class Bladers or had strong connections to their beys are now able to access superpowers through that connection."

Kyoya spoke up. "Let's focus on teamwork on this outing tonight. Gingka and Yuki, I want you two to draw in the shades, where Kenta and I will then destroy them."

"Tsubasa and I will do the same," Nile continued. "Yu will finish them off." The blond haired boy grinned.

Madoka smiled at all of them. "Good luck everyone!"

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Don't worry about us!" Gingka gave Madoka a quick hug before backing away. "All right team! Move out!" he declared. Yu cheered and followed him. Kyoya and Nile rolled their eyes and followed behind Tsubasa, Kenta and Yuki.

Near the outskirts of Tokyo, the group split up and headed their separate ways. Kyoya led his group to one spot and Nile to another on the opposite side of the town, so that they could produce maximum damage on the excursion.

Gingka flew off at superspeed while Yuki walked sideways along buildings to keep safe from the shades. Eventually, the two lowered themselves to the ground and became open targets. It wasn't long before each attracted a shade or two, which then multiplied in number as they raced back toward Kyoya and Kenta. Gingka soon took to the sky for safety, and Yuki to the sides of the buildings.

As the two burst on the scene, Kenta was the first to step out, sending spirals of flame hurtling toward the shades and disintegrating them on impact. Their brethren paid this no heed, and they continued to swarm the boy.

In the other direction, Kyoya was blocking the street Gingka had just flown through with a few tornadoes, successfully ripping the shades' semi-translucent forms apart.

Meanwhile, Tsubasa flew down the streets with a horde of shades after him as Nile strategically placed Mystic Zone shields in places the shades would find them and be led back to where Yu waited with his Inferno Blast powers. Nile decided he would supervise from the nearest roof and step in only if necessary. He had Yu stationed at the end of a dead end, so the shades should only come at him from one direction.

Sure enough, the plan worked. The shades following his shield path tagged along with the pack following Tsubasa, so Nile let go of his power and the glowing shields around the city faded out. Yu was ready, and blasted the entrance with intense green energy. Thankfully, Nile no longer had to cover his ears at the noise. Yu had truly improved in his control.

There were lots of shades to handle, though, so Nile began blasting them from the end of the line to make Yu's job go faster.

It seemed like forever, but eventually all the shades at both locations had been eliminated. Gingka and the others were exhausted mentally from the concentration of using their powers for such a long time, and physically from exerting themselves all night. Kyoya and Nile were faring better thanks to their longer time spent training, so Kyoya took the lead and Nile the rear on their trek back to the camper.

Upon arrival, the group readied themselves for bed. Kyoya threw blankets on their usual spots on the ground as Nile raised a shield around them and the camper.

"I'd say things went perfectly on my end," Nile said quietly as he arranged his pillow.

From a few feet away, Kyoya grunted as he tried to relax. "One might say things went perfectly on my end too, but I'd say our theory may have some holes in it."

"You're talking about Kenta?" Nile stared up at the glowing dome above him.

"Yep." Kyoya did likewise. "His flame power is as strong as ever, but he hasn't developed that second power we keep expecting."

"It's not a given that a Legendary Blader will have two powers. Look at Yuki – he only has antigravity."

Kyoya admitted his friend had a point. "But this is different. Yuki was never that strong of a blader to begin with. Now I'm not saying Kenta was World Class like us or anything, but he and Sagittario always seemed to have a strong connection."

"So that's what you're getting at," Nile said, as understanding dawned. "Kenta's flame power could be from Sagittario all along."

"Actually I wasn't thinking that, but you've made me even more intrigued."

Nile turned his head to the side. "What were you thinking then?"

"I was going along the lines of stronger connections," he explained. "While I never really liked the guy, Ryuga was a strong opponent in battle. Perhaps even the strongest. I would think Ldrago would bestow at least one power upon its new partner if not two."

"So you were thinking Kenta would develop Sagittario's power second and that his current power is from the summer fragment?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure anymore."

There was a long silence. Clearly the two former Wild Fang members had fallen asleep. Kenta quietly backed away from the camper door, shocked and disturbed by what he had heard. Was he not worthy to claim the power of Ldrago? The boy shook his head silently and crawled into bed, determined to train harder than ever the next day and for all the days to come.

* * *

 **The lesson of this chapter is never eavesdrop on others. You may hear something you wish you hadn't. :/ Poor Kenta...**


	12. Chapter 12

**So this chapter is a little different. We get to see things through the eyes of Nemesis' followers for once. I also have added in a bit more humor than usual into this chapter, since the story has been rather dark and will continue to be so throughout the next chapters as well.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or Apple.**

* * *

"Hmm hmm hmm." A figure in the shadows hummed along to the smooth jazz playing through the speakers at a moderate volume.

"You have a teleconference in one minute, Master," a robotic female voice prompted. The smooth jazz stopped abruptly.

The figure in the corner growled, but turned the lights in the room on. "Open the channel and give me screen access, Fake Siri." He had demanded his system be modeled after the Siri from Apple's iPhone.

"Immediately," the robotic voice said sweetly.

A screen lowered and within the minute, faces began to appear. "Status report," Rago demanded, looking at the checkerboard of city leaders' faces on the screen in front of him.

Cycnus' face automatically enlarged in the center of the screen as he began his report, cringing slightly. "Bad news I'm afraid, Master Rago."

Rago waved a hand. "I've heard the short version. Tell me the damage."

"Right then." Cycnus cleared his throat. "Team Excalibur from the Beyblade World Championships showed up the other day and made off with the former Legendary Blader King. They apparently convinced Masamune, who was supposed to be guarding King, to help them escape. We've lost one of our five greatest assets, I'm afraid."

"Never mind that brat," Rago said in his gravelly voice. "How in this dark world did they get past Damian? I thought he was the strongest of any former blader in this new world."

Cycnus wrung his hands. "Damian says they tricked him. He thought they would not attempt escape until defeating him – which even with all six of them fighting, they could not hope to accomplish – but instead they escaped on a jet."

"You're telling me Damian couldn't spot a FREAKING JET PLANE?" Rago took in a long breath, calming himself.

"He tends to get caught up in battle," Cycnus admitted.

"That is no excuse. What punishment have you given him?"

"None, Master." Seeing the look on Rago's face, Cycnus continued hurriedly. "He punishes himself more harshly than I ever could. He trains day and night, only sleeping and eating when necessary. He will not disappoint us again."

Rago felt like grinning, but he didn't. Rago didn't smile. Ever. By the sound of this, the final battle would surely be turned in their favor. "Very good. Next."

Pluto's face came to center screen. "The collaboration was a failure. However, Jack was able to confirm the identity of the Crimson Flash and his followers: Bao and Aguma from the Beylin Fist, and the entirety of Team Wang Hu Zhong. Unfortunatly, Zeo and Toby decided to join them and aid their escape, abandoning the mission given to them by you yourself."

"That simply will not do." Rago had already heard of this incident from Nemesis, and did not blame Jack for it as he had Damian. The artist's powers were more severely limited than the ruler of Hades. In a battle against so many former bladers, his loss was to be expected. "We will have those two punished and rehabilitated. I know, we can give them to Damian to practice his training on!" Rago clasped his hands together with a loud clap, excited by his latest sadistic idea.

Johannes was next to report. "Meow, I'm afraid things have taken a turn for the worse in Tokyo. Attacks have been taking place on a massive scale, and since the attacks only happen at night, it is impossible to make out who the perpetrators are on surveillance, meow."

Rago waved a hand. "Old news, old news. And I know who the perpetrators are. Lord Nemesis has gifted me with their identities."

There was silence for a long minute. Then Keyser spoke. "Master Rago, are you planning a largescale attack on these people?"

"I can't help but notice Nemesis' rule isn't going as smoothly as it used to," Herschel chimed in. Only Argo Garcia remained silent.

Rago sighed. "Things may seem worse, but Nemesis' rule has been contested since its very beginning. You all are just noticing the rumblings grow louder. The situation is worldwide now. Lord Nemesis first tells me that his shades are currently being vanquished in Africa, and more recently in Russia and India. His power is weakening."

"But I thought shades vanquished here on earth simply recharged within the black sun with no effect to the power of Nemesis at all!" Pluto exclaimed in shock.

Rago twiddled a pencil between his fingers. "In most cases, yes. That is what is occurring in China, Japan, Africa, and even scattered across Europe." It pained him to admit that even under his iron grip, sporadic attacks occurred on the continent he ruled, though his situation was not nearly as bad as most. "But the attacks in Russia and India are different. The shades don't return to the black sun, they simply vanish, and so Nemesis loses that energy."

Rago paused, allowing his underlings to come to terms with the fact that the seemingly indestructible shades were somehow being destroyed in a way that weakened Nemesis.

He then continued. "This is not the first time this has happened. In fact, this started happening three days after Nemesis took control of Earth." Yes. Nemesis had only ruled absolutely for about three days. "Shades in the Pacific Islands began getting sent back to the black sun by an unknown assailant, and then later that same day, Nemesis reported that he was losing energy ever so slightly. The fifth day of his reign, shades began to be systematically annihilated in Egypt. The known cause of this was Kyoya the former Legendary Blader and Nile from Team Wild Fang. However, after a few months the two went off the grid only to be sighted in Japan with Gingka and some other World Class Bladers. They are the ones you are now dealing with, Johannes. While your surveillance and even the shades at night could not identify them, during the past two weeks the two of them have been training Gingka and some others to discover their powers."

Johannes gaped. Why had he not been informed?

Rago seemed to answer the question with his next sentence. "I didn't worry myself with the details, I already have the endgame in mind." He then returned to the previous story he had been telling. "Anyway, the attacks in the Pacific Islands stopped after a week, only to be replaced by more attackers in Hong Kong, whose identities we now know."

"Are the two attacks related?" asked Argo, speaking up for the first time.

Rago frowned, tapping his pencil on the table in front of him. "Uncertain, but unlikely. The Crimson Flash, Wang Hu Zhong and Aguma the former Legendary Blader have successfully defeated many shades, that is for certain, but none of them show any signs of possessing that power to simply disappear shades. So I would say this Pacific Ocean person has moved on to either Russia or India, and someone with a similar power is in the other of the two. But never mind that. Did anyone get a tag on that jet Excalibur escaped on?"

Blank faces greeted him. Rago sighed. Did he have to come up with all the ideas around here? He rubbed a hand on his forehead. He wasn't made to rule over the ruins of this world! Every night he asked Lord Nemesis to descend and smite the world once and for all, but each time the answer was the same: No.

"Fine then. Based on the data I have, no thanks to all of you, the various former bladers seem to be assembling in East Asia and Northern Africa. Pluto, I need you to send your best men to Shanghai, or rather what's left of it. I will send my own men to intercept Bao and his group en route. With the both of us working together, we'll be sure to apprehend them. Yada yada yada. Bye." Rago shut off the transmission with the push of a button. Man, that had almost been too much. He had almost blown up at everyone.

"Master, your scheduled water yoga time is in five minutes."

Rago yawned. That meeting had gone longer than anticipated. Must have been the story he told. "Fake Siri, set the pool to my preferred temperature."

"I live to serve." Fake Siri always had his back. Even if all those other fools didn't know their right from their left.

Rago left to change into his swim trunks – black, the only color he liked – and headed to the eighty seven degree Fahrenheit pool in which he did water yoga.

xXxXx

It was the day after Kyoya and Nile had led the others into Tokyo to wipe out shades. Yuki and Kenta were sitting by the radio listening to Johannes' Tokyo news. The attacks were not mentioned, as the station was a civilian one, not one of the city leaders' communication links. Tsubasa and Yu had gone for a swim, and Gingka was in the camper putting on a suit so he could join them. He wanted to bring Madoka and maybe even Hikaru with him if they were interested. They both worked hard during the day, so the few hours before the black sun appeared in the evening contained much of their free time.

"Any good news?" That was Hikaru. It seemed the girls had returned.

"Civilian station," Yuki told them. Kenta nodded.

"Hey Madoka! Hikaru! Want to go for a swim?" Gingka emerged from the camper in swim trunks, toting three towels (just in case) and a ridiculous looking floaty.

Hikaru shrugged, looking at the blushing Madoka. "I'm game."

"Okay!" Gingka sat down near the radio as the two girls went to change. "I'll wait for you two here. Kenta, Yuki, do either of you want to join us?"

Yuki shook his head. "No thanks, I'd rather stay here."

"Me too." Kenta planned to train as soon as Gingka left. It had to be in secret. Gingka would get concerned and Tsubasa would try to be understanding, which would sting his pride. Yu just flat out wouldn't get it, Madoka and Hikaru had enough to deal with, and Kyoya and Nile had already done their best to awaken his power. The rest was up to him. Yuki wouldn't notice; he was absorbed in the radio program.

A few minutes later, the three went off to find Tsubasa and Yu. They were swimming in the river, near the spot where Kyoya and Nile had first trained them, Gingka noted. "Cannonball!" The former Pegasus blader shouted, jumping into a deeper part of the river and splashing everyone around him. Hikaru jumped in after him, while Madoka chose to enter by the shallows.

"Gingki!" called out Yu. "You brought the floaty!"

Gingka passed the item over to the former Libra blader, who immediately fit it around his waist and went floating off down the river. "Whee!"

Tsubasa, treading water in the deeper section, asked "Why did you do that? Now he's going to bug Kyoya and Nile."

"Bug them?" Gingka scratched his head. "I haven't seen them all day."

Tsubasa decided to explain. "Nile found an abandoned house in the woods that was stocked with fishing equipment. He and Kyoya are all decked out and trying out the rods and reels."

"Oh."

"Ouch! You hooked me!" That was Yu's voice.

"What are you doing here? Tsubasa was keeping you upstream for a reason!" The second voice was Nile's.

"I'll go fix it," Gingka said with a sigh, turning onto his stomach and doing the front crawl past the bend in the river. He went fully underwater and grabbed the floaty, trying to scare Yu. It didn't work, so he resurfaced.

"What's up?" Gingka blinked, clearing his eyes. He then began to laugh. Kyoya was sporting a camouflage fishing vest, while Nile wore a floppy tan hat. Both held one pole apiece, with two others propped up in-between them. A cooler filled with who knows what sat in the background next to a tree.

"I swear, if you don't stop laughing this instant Gingka…" Kyoya let his threat hang in the air.

Gingka immediately sobered and began pushing Yu – still in his floaty – back upstream, whispering "If only I had a camera, Yu."

The younger boy giggled.

"What's so funny?" Madoka asked as the two appeared.

"You'd have to see it yourself. Words can't describe it!" Gingka promptly began laughing again.

Madoka and Hikaru were curious. They couldn't help it. So they allowed themselves to float downstream. A few minutes later, they came back.

"I don't get it. I didn't see anyone," Hikaru told Gingka.

"Kyoya and Nile weren't even there," Madoka went on. "So I don't get what all the fuss was about."

Gingka frowned. It was Tsubasa who spoke. "They must have been annoyed by all the noise we're making and left to go to a different fishing spot."

And so, Madoka and Hikaru would never see the sight of the two former Wild Fang members fishing.

By the time the swimmers got back to the campsite, there were fish grilling over the fire and neither Kyoya nor Nile were wearing any fishing gear. Dinner was a quiet affair, until Nile walked over to the radio and turned on the channel that had been found several weeks ago: DJ Rago's smooth jazz.

For a while, only the usual jazz music played, but just as the sun was being covered in darkness, static started to interrupt the usual program. Everyone crowded around the box as the voice of Pluto, leader of Hong Kong, was heard speaking. "Everyone is currently on their way to Shanghai. When will you make your move?"

"After you are certain the entire place is clear and stake out the city," came the distinctive voice of Rago. "We cannot risk Wang Hu Zhong and Beylin Fist already being there."

Gingka's eyes widened. "Dashan and Aguma?"

Madoka shushed him so everyone could hear what was said next.

"Very well. Give us two days. I will report back then."

Static resumed, and Yuki quickly dialed down the volume so that DJ Rago didn't deafen them with his loud jazz announcement.

"Shanghai, huh?" Nile spoke up as smooth jazz filtered in through the radio.

Kyoya stood up. "We have to go. You heard Pluto and Rago. They are either going to catch Dashan and the others on the way to Shanghai or once they get there. Nile, we should be able to get there in less than two days and stir up enough of a commotion to draw in Wang Hu Zhong and Beylin Fist."

"Hopefully we won't draw in Rago's men as well," Nile said realistically.

Kyoya frowned. "It will be a calculated risk. But we will need all the people we can get to face Nemesis and his followers. We have to do this."

"What?" Gingka looked in shock from Kyoya to Nile. "You're leaving us?"

"We have to," Nile replied.

Kyoya gave Gingka a serious look. "I'm expecting you to lead the fight here in Tokyo now, Gingka."

The former Pegasus blader didn't look impressed. "And you're planning to get to Shanghai how?"

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "The same way we got here, Gingka."

"Oh." That's right, Gingka remembered. Kyoya and Nile had somehow traveled from Egypt to Japan in the first place. "How _did_ you get here?" He honestly had never thought of asking them earlier.

"See us off and find out," was the former Leone blader's response.

Everyone ended up seeing them off. Hikaru and Madoka decided their sleep could suffer a little. The former couldn't shake off the morbid thought of this being the last time she saw the two.

"Sayonara!" Yu said as they hit the shoreline of the ocean.

Nile raised a hand and a golden glowing boat appeared, floating in the water.

"It's amazing how much control you have over your power," Yuki noted analytically. Everyone else just gaped.

Kyoya and Nile hopped in after saying their goodbyes, and the former Wild Fang leader used his tornado power to propel the boat out into the open ocean. With any luck, the two of them would make it in time to pick up the group headed that way.

* * *

 **So Kyoya and Nile are off to find Team Wang Hu Zhong and the Beylin Fist. But will they be able to find them before Rago and Pluto?**


	13. Chapter 13

**This story sure has come a long way since chapter one. There is still a ways to go though! In this chapter, groups are on the move! Well, at least some of them are... Enjoy!**

* * *

"The maze is clear. Good job everyone," Demure announced.

Benkei pushed a large rock in front of the entrance to the maze, which acted as the door of sorts that Ryuto had suggested investing in.

Tithi reappeared holding Dynamis' hand, and Chris stood waiting in the temple as the group retuned.

"Where's Ryuto?" Chris asked. He knew he had just entered the maze before Benkei had closed the door.

Demure activated his x-ray vision power, scanning the maze for him. "He's on his way back. Empty-handed, I'm afraid." Ryuto had gone to a few nearby villages and finally returned after three days.

"Everything has been scavenged. There was nothing left anywhere nearby," Ryuto said, finally reaching the temple.

"That settles it," Dynamis proclaimed. "We will have to leave Mist Mountain and head toward civilization."

Tithi hopped from foot to foot. "What civilization?"

"North. We'll head north," the Guardian of Mist Mountain decided.

"To Egypt?" Chris asks.

Ryuto rubbed his heads together with glee – think of all the treasures he could unearth in Egypt!

Seeing his look, Dynamis addressed him. "We need food, not treasure. Food has more value in this world than any treasure."

Ryuto sulked. But he understood Dynamis' point.

"North it is!" Tithi said brightly. "When do we leave? Right now?"

"We should leave in the morning when it is safer," Demure pointed out.

Benkei looked around. "Are we completely out of food?"

Chris nodded.

"It will be all right Benkei," Demure told him. "You can go without breakfast for one day."

"Fine." Benkei huffed and went off to sleep; that way his stomach wouldn't hurt so much thinking about no breakfast.

xXx

The next morning, everyone packed their few belongings and headed north with Ryuto in the lead and Dynamis in the back to make certain everyone kept up. Every so often they came across abandoned villages, none of their inhabitants to be seen. Most often the homes were devoid of sustenance, but once in a while they ran into a cache of cans. Whenever that happened, a spontaneous meal broke out.

"So how much further to Egypt?" Benkei asked.

Ryuto looked around. "I'm pretty sure we're in Egypt already. But we've still got a few days before we reach any cities at the pace we're traveling."

"Ugh. My feet hurt just thinking about it," moaned Tithi.

Dynamis found himself gazing up into the sky once again – a force of habit. But the heavens remained dark and void of whatever sign he searched for.

xXxXx

 _Splash!_ Kyoya and Nile hit the land and Nile allowed the boat to dissipate. The two ran as fast as they dared, already feeling fatigued thanks to using their powers for the entire night and most of the day. Still, it was imperative they warn Wang Hu Zhong and Beylin Fist of the ambush they were running into.

"We should have sent Gingka," Nile managed to gasp out. "His superspeed sure would have come in handy."

"Gingka wouldn't be able to get them all back though," Kyoya replied. He then redoubled his effort. He eventually came to a stop in the middle of a barren wasteland. Shanghai lay to the north and Hong Kong to the south. "This is as good a place as any. Let's just hope Pluto's men are busy scouring Shanghai and Rago's are still far off."

Nile nodded in agreement and stretched out a hand, sending up a tall, glowing shield that could be seen for miles around. It was harder to call upon his power than usual because of his exhaustion. "Get some rest while you can," he told Kyoya. "I'll wake you in a bit and we can switch out."

The former leader of Team Wild Fang sank gratefully to the ground and was asleep in seconds.

A few hours later, Nile woke Kyoya, who set up a whirling tornado in place of Nile's glowing pillar. The former Horuseus blader fell asleep in an instant as well, with the tornado's wind ruffling his hair.

xXx

"I spy with my little eye something… brown."

"A rock."

"Lucky guess, Mei-Mei," Chao Xin rolled his eyes. "Your turn."

"I spy with my little eye something… white."

"That cloud!" Chao Xin pointed to a wisp in the sky.

"Nope."

"Then it's got to be… Toby's hair!"

"Correct!"

Toby glanced back at the two at the back of the procession going through the barren wilderness surrounding Shanghai. Nemesis had struck here, and struck hard. Realizing it was nothing important, he went on trudging along next to Zeo. His stomach growled. Seemed the small rations were getting to him. At least they didn't have a water shortage thanks to Mei-Mei's ability to pull it from the ground.

"I spy something gold."

Chao Xin sighed. "Seriously Bao? If you're going to play, you should at least get the phrase right. It's 'I spy with my little eye.' And besides, I thought you refused to play because this game is 'too childish.'"

"No seriously. I see something gold." Bao pointed off into the distance.

Everyone squinted. "I see it," said Aguma. "Let's head toward it. It's on our way to Shanghai, anyway."

"Isn't it possible this is a trap?" Dashan was particularly wary. "There are former bladers with powers that joined Nemesis like Jack. Toby, Zeo, could that be one of them?"

Zeo shrugged. "We only knew of Jack and Damian, and it's certainly not Jack."

"Could it be Damian?" Chi-yun piped up. After all, Jack had threatened that Damian would come. Could it be that his words were coming true?

"Well, a glowing pillar of gold _could_ be one of the things Damian's power entails," Zeo admitted. "He can merely wave a hand and whatever he imagines comes into existence. But that's not his style. I would know. We were on the same team in the Beyblade World Championships. If Damian truly was here, he would make some kind of flashy entrance and then attack after announcing we were weak or something."

Toby agreed. "That sounds like Damian all right."

"We should go then," Bao decided. Even though Aguma had been the one blessed by the star fragment, he often ended up making decisions and taking the lead; like back when it had been his bey rather than he himself nicknamed 'The Crimson Flash.'

"Fine." Dashan let Aguma and Bao take the lead, as this was their idea. He fell in with Chi-yun, Toby and Zeo in the middle of the pack.

After what seemed like hours (and probably was, as the sky was now beginning to darken), the pillar disappeared.

Bao and Aguma halted the line. "Should we keep going?" Dashan asked. They seemed to be closer to the source of the light. Hopefully they would reach it by dark.

Before anyone could reply, a giant tornado suddenly took its place. "Okay, now what's going on?" asked Chao Xin.

"A different power," Aguma muttered.

"There are at least two people, then." Bao squinted. He could just make out one shape, but not a second. "Using two different powers."

"Well, it _could_ be one person. Aguma has two powers," Mei-Mei pointed out.

"None of the rest of us have two powers," Bao reminded her. "And the fact that the golden pillar stopped and then the tornado started suggests two people are there. Otherwise, why bother switching powers?"

Mei-Mei conceded that Bao was likely correct.

"I doubt it's an ambush," Chi-yun said. "Someone, well, two someones, want us to find them. A servant of Nemesis would simply attack."

"Then let's go." Aguma began walking again and the others followed.

Sure enough, as they got closer, they saw one figure sitting and another lying on the ground. "So it's you, Kyoya," Aguma called out. "I guess we should have known by the tornado."

Kyoya's tornado dissipated into a wisp of wind. "Well now, it seems that radio announcement was spot on. But Zeo and Toby too?"

Zeo nodded. "Long story."

"We've got plenty of time," Kyoya told them. By now, the second person was standing up and most definitely Nile, Kyoya's friend and former teammate in the Beyblade World Championships, Dashan realized. "Come on, we're heading to Japan."

xXxXx

A well-used copy of _Don Quixote_ lay on the coffee table with a bookmark roughly halfway through it. Three males and one female sat on the sofa and chair next to it.

"I'm worried. What's taking so long?" Sophie broke the silence.

Just as she finished speaking, a nurse walked in. "Klaus will make a full recovery, although he will have permanent scars."

Sophie and Wales breathed a sigh of relief. Masamune and King continued to sit there silently, looking slightly relieved.

"And Julian?" Sophie asked.

The nurse drew in a long breath. "He is stable now, but I fear he will never walk again."

"Never walk again?" Wales asked angrily, rising to his feet. "He has the best doctors in the world in his employ. Why can't they fix him?"

The nurse remained calm. "Even the best doctors in the world cannot repair severe nervous system damage. The burns on Julian's legs were that severe. While the body can naturally repair damaged bone and muscle, it cannot repair burned nerve endings."

Sophie sucked in a breath. Wales stared at the ground. Masamune and King looked at each other in shock. How could they have let this happen? The nurse left the room followed by the Cetus duo who wanted to check in on their two friends. The two remaining sat in silence for a long minute.

"We haven't really explored the house," Masamune finally spoke up, trying to distract both King and himself from the somber news they had just received. "Want to go check it out?"

"Sure!" King looked up, smiling for the first time since they had fought Damian. So off the two friends went to explore the mansion of Julian Konzern.

First, they stumbled into the banquet hall and walked up by the long table stretching the length of the room. King gazed up in awe at the crystal chandelier that hung at the middle of the room, right above the center of the long table which, now that he was looking closer, had a thin layer of dust on it as if it had been left unused for several months.

"I guess it has," he mused.

"What?" Masamune was confused.

"Just talking to myself. Sorry." King told Masamune. "Let's see what's next to the dining room." He led the way down the hall, past an acre of kitchens and up to the next closed door, stepping aside and gesturing for Masamune to have the honor of opening the door.

The former Striker blader opened it slowly to add to the suspense. "No way! A bowling alley?"

"Let's have a game!" King decided.

They both played horribly, as they couldn't figure out how to add bumpers to the lanes and kept throwing gutter balls, but they sure had fun. "I can't believe you threw that ball all the way into the next lane King!" Masamune laughed as they left in search of more fun.

"What can I say?" grinned King. "I don't know my own strength!"

The two continued to laugh as they headed to the next room. "Oh cool! A private theater!" Masamune ran around excitedly and popped back up next to King a second later. "There's a stack of film reels we can play in the back. Want to watch one?"

"Of course!" King settled himself in a comfy theater seat. "Pick out a movie, Masamune."

xXx

"He's not in good spirits," Wales said quietly. He and Sophie had returned to their spots at the coffee table after their visits to Julian and Klaus in the medical wing. While Klaus was doing well enough, definitely on the mend physically and mentally, Konzern, who had been given no chance of recovery, was not doing well in either category.

"He put so much time into Project Galahad only to find himself unable to initiate it," Sophie softly replied. "With who knows how many former bladers on the side of Nemesis, he feels he can't risk enacting it."

Wales sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The thing is that Damian and Jack seem to be the only ones. Masamune may not have worked for Herschel long, but he was privy to information such as that."

"We cannot go against Konzern's wishes, even if we feel we should," Sophie insisted.

"So then we have to wait for a sign from the heavens, huh?" Wales grimaced. "I don't know about that. If I have to, I will make a move of my own if I must."

* * *

 **Will Kyoya and Nile make it back to Japan without incident? And will Wales ever get his sign, or will he make a move on his own? Stay tuned to find out!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks to my reviewers for your support throughout this story. It really means a lot to me!**

* * *

After a third successful night of hunting shades in Tokyo, Gingka and the others were having a morning of goofing off for once. Yuki was using his antigravity to walk upside down on tree limbs as Tsubasa and Gingka flew around in circles above the camper, the latter occasionally putting on bursts of speed just for the fun of it. Yu copied their actions on the ground, running around the camper in circles.

"Tsubasi! Tsubasi!" he shouted, waving his arms in the air. "Take me flying with you!"

Tsubasa smiled. He definitely had a soft spot for the former Libra blader and descended, landing next to the blond boy. Yu held out his arms and Tsubasa scooped him up and off they went. "Whoo hoo!" shrieked Yu as he looked down at Yuki and Madoka, who was off of work for some reason or another; Yu couldn't really recall why.

Gingka grinned when he saw the two having fun doing something other than training with their powers or fighting shades for once. This also gave him an idea. He poured on some speed, swooping down low, picking up Madoka, and flew up again as she squeaked in surprise.

"Gingka! What are you doing?" she shrieked, clinging tightly to his shoulders so she would not fall.

"Madoka," Gingka began in his speech voice. Madoka would recognize that particular tone anywhere. "You work hard all the time just so the rest of us are able to train at night. This is my way to give you something in return."

Madoka smiled at this and enjoyed the scenery as they passed through the sky. It was true. She had worked hard to give everyone a good life in this new world. Without beys for her to repair or a computer to analyze with, she felt lost and helpless when it came to the fight against the shades of Nemesis.

Nearby, Yu and Tsubasa were soaring high as well. Yuki was now perched at the top of a tree, and Kenta was…

"Where is Kenta?" Madoka asked. Why wasn't he out having fun with the rest of them? It wasn't like he had a job to go to like Hikaru.

"Good question. I haven't seen him at all this morning. He was gone when I woke up." Gingka glanced around looking for him. When he didn't immediately spot Kenta, he decided to fly out a little further and keep looking. Madoka acted as his second set of eyes, and together they soon found him in a barren region to the west of their campsite. Gingka descended and let Madoka down gently.

"What's up Kenta?" the former Pegasus blader asked as Kenta's whirls of flame died away.

"Practicing," was the only reply he got. Kenta squeezed his eyes shut and went through a sequence of punches and kicks, flames dancing everywhere around him. At the end, he stopped and let out a breath, his power leaving him. "Is there a problem Gingka? Am I needed?"

"No," Gingka replied slowly. "The rest of us are having some fun back at camp if you want to join in."

Kenta's eyes flashed. "I need to practice." He closed his eyes again, this time straining and straining. His face flushed red and his whole body burst into flame involuntarily. Thankfully his power didn't burn either Kenta or his clothing, but Gingka and Madoka had to take a step backward.

"Kenta! Stop!" Gingka yelled, but the boy continued.

"Is he hurting himself?" Madoka asked Gingka worriedly, clutching his arm as the two gazed at the blazing inferno which was Kenta.

"No, but he is certainly straining himself beyond what he would face in a battle. It can't be good for him," said Gingka.

Kenta relaxed and fell to the ground in exhaustion. "Kenta!" Gingka and Madoka rushed to their friend and lifted his head up. "It's no good. I can't find it," he said as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Find what?" Madoka asked him.

"My second power."

Gingka opened his mouth to reply to reply when he was interrupted by a voice from above. "Gingka! Madoka! Kenta!" Tsubasa floated down to them. "Kyoya and Nile have returned with Wang Hu Zhong, Beylin Fist and Toby and Zeo."

"All of them?" Gingka was surprised by the mention of the last two. "I guess we should head back then." He picked up Madoka and flew off at superspeed. They made it back to the camper in seconds. Tsubasa and Kenta arrived a minute later.

Nile was sitting on the ground looking exhausted. Wang Hu Zhong wasn't looking well either, but Bao seemed to be all right. "Wait, where's everyone else?" Gingka asked, confused.

"Out looking for more campers or an RV," Bao told him. Dashan nodded tiredly. The trip across the ocean had been long and hard with Kyoya and Nile already fatigued from their first trip. Mei-Mei, Chao Xin and Chi-yun had fallen asleep and it was just early afternoon. Gingka wanted to chat with Dashan and the others, but they didn't seem in the mood, so he restrained himself.

About an hour later, Kyoya, Aguma, Toby and Zeo returned. Kyoya and Aguma were carrying another camper while Toby and Zeo somehow levitated an RV mobile home. As soon as they set their finds down in the clearing, Yu bounded over. "Toby! Zeo! How did you lift that huge RV?"

Toby smiled tiredly. "I have telekinesis while Zeo has magnetic powers. So we combined them to bring over the RV."

"So cool!" Yu proclaimed. "I have supersonic energy as my power," he told them proudly. "What else does your group have?"

 _Your group._ Toby and Zeo shared a look, both thinking about the same person. "Well, Bao has superspeed, Dashan can melt the earth to lava and control it, Mei-Mei can control water, Chao Xin is an enchanter of sorts, Chi-yun can change sizes, and Aguma has earth powers and also superstrength."

Yuki, who had been listening in, said "I see. The army of good continues to grow. Another Legendary Blader has joined our ranks. Now we only need Dynamis, Tithi and King to complete the ranks of the Solar System Legendary Bladers and Chris for the last seasonal position. Then we can create Zeus' Barrier and end Nemesis and the evildoers for good."

Zeo raised an eyebrow. "That's a whole lot of people to still find."

"The stars will come into alignment and it will happen," Yuki insisted.

Toby shrugged and went to help put blankets and pillows in the two new additions to the clearing. Then he and the others that had newly arrived from China hit the sack. It had been a long time since they had slept last in comfort.

Gingka, Tsubasa, Yu, Madoka, Yuki and Kenta stayed out in the clearing, chatting amongst themselves and filling Hikaru in on the newcomers when she arrived back from work. There would be an abbreviated shade hunt that night, but none of the new arrivals joined in. Neither did Kyoya or Nile. They were all fast asleep.

xXxXx

Julian sat in his new wheelchair, staring into space. A plate of food lay untouched in front of him. Sophie and Wales, on the sofa next to him, were speaking quietly. Klaus was in the gym lifting, along with King and Masamune. Since he had received the news about his legs, Julian had fallen into a deep depression. He hid the horrible burns with a blanket across his lap at all times, trying to forget but being unable to. His loss to Damian the second time haunted him more than having his fortune taken away after being defeated by him in the Beyblade World Championships. Sophie and Wales had been trying to distract him from his injuries, but it didn't help. He was Julian Konzern: destined to be at the top of everything. He needed to be whole in order to rule the world after the defeat of Nemesis!

Klaus on the other hand, was hard at work lifting several hundred pounds of weights in the gym. Masamune and King were both struggling with 120 pounds. "Eer!" Masamune grunted. "Must. Beat. King!"

"I did it!" King dropped the bar. "I'm the King of the weight room!"

By this time, both were sweaty and sore. "I could really go for a swim," King commented as they left Klaus to keep lifting on his own.

"Let's go then!" Masamune sprinted off to the indoor pool they had found the other day. It had a glass ceiling and glass walls, so during the day it got real hot inside.

King met Masamune at the pool a few minutes later, wearing black and red swim trunks while his friend wore black and green. They had raided some of the many drawers and closets in the mansion to find them. After a swimming race (which Masamune cheated in by using his superspeed to kick really fast), a breath holding contest and some other random competitions, the two lay out towels on the hot tiles and looked up at the now dark sky through the glass roof.

"It's weird not seeing Mars up there anymore," King commented.

"It's weird not to see Monoceros as well," Masamune added. "But look at the few constellations that can still be seen. Like there! That's Cassiopea!"

King smiled. "You know the story behind that one?"

"No."

"Well, I grew up in a small Greek village and history was important to my family. I remember going out with my mother and father when I was still very small and learning the shapes and the stories behind them. But that was a long time ago. After my parents' deaths, I discovered beyblade and gained strength until the village leaders took it away because I was too strong. And well, you know the rest."

"Yeah, but I still don't know the story, King." As usual, King had rambled on without answering the point of Masamune's 'no.'"

"Oh right! King exclaimed happily, warming to the topic. "The story of Cassiopeia goes like this: She was the wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia and was very beautiful but also vain. One day while she combed her long hair, she dared to claim that her beauty exceeded that of the Nereids."

"What's a Nereid?" Masamune interrupted.

"A Nereid is a sea nymph. Now let me continue the story. Well, word got back to the Nereids about this boast, and you can imagine they were none too happy. So they complained to Poseidon, the god of the seas. Poseidon listened to their plea and sent a monster named Cetus to ravage the coast of King Cepheus' lands."

"Wait, Cetus like the beys of Sophie and Wales?"

"Yep," King replied. Then he continued. "In order to appease the monster, Cepheus and Cassiopeia chained their daughter Andromeda to a rock, meaning to sacrifice her, but Andromeda ended up being saved by the hero Perseus before she was eaten."

Masamune sat there silently for a long minute. Then he began clapping. "Good story!"

"And you know, Perseus is Julian's Destroyer's constellation," King told him. "Perseus is the one who killed Medusa."

"Oh," was all the former Striker blader said. "So what's the Greek story behind my Striker?"

King scratched his head. "Well, Monoceros actually isn't a Greek constellation. It's between Hydra and Oriion, but since it's a modern figure, there are no legends associated with it whatsoever."

Masamune openly wilted with disappointment. There was a long silence as the two kept looking up at the mostly blank sky. After a long time, he spoke. "Know any other stories, King?"

The former Variares blader gazed up before spotting a constellation whose story he knew. "Well, Draco the great dragon was said to have battled the gods of Olympus for ten years before being defeated by Minerva, or as she was known to the Greeks, Athena."

Masamune blinked. Ten years sure was a long battle! Then he blinked again. "Wait, where do you see Draco?"

"Right up there," King said, pointing. Then he gasped. "Right up there!"

"We have to tell Julian and the others right now!" Masamune stood.

"Oh no you don't." King grabbed his arm before he could rush off at superspeed. "I want to be there too when you tell them!"

Together the two friends ran down the halls of Konzern's villa, not caring about only being in their swim trunks as they burst into the parlor where Julian, Sophie, Wales and even Klaus sat.

"Guys! Guess what we just saw!" Masamune babbled on, answering his own question. "Draco! We saw the constellation Draco!"

Sophie looked at them sharply. How dare they make such a joke when Julian was depressed enough as he was. "Don't be a fool. Draco disappeared the instant Ldrago Destructor disintegrated, isn't that right?"

King nodded. He had been there, after all. "No joke though. It's seriously out there. Come see for yourselves."

The group made their way over to the pool's glass ceiling, with Klaus pushing Julian's wheelchair along. Sure enough, King and Masamune weren't lying. Draco was shining brightly in the sky.

"It's like the stars were dark and now their light and power has returned," Julian said quietly.

"Is this the sign, Julian?" Wales asked his leader.

Julian looked interested in something for the first time in a while. "Yes. Time to initiate Project Galahad."


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry I am a day late with the chapter, but it's finally here! I feel bad about leaving you all on that cliffhanger of a chapter last time, so this one will tie up some loose ends. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Gingka awoke gasping for air, his nightmare still fresh in his mind. Looking around at the occupants of the camper, he knew everything he had dreamt was false. Walking outside, he took a deep breath of fresh air. The black sun was fading as it passed away from the normal sun, nearly indistinguishable from the darkness of space around it. Yes, Nemesis was still ruling the world, and Ryuga was still dead, unlike in his nightmare world. Then Gingka frowned. That constellation hadn't been there before. Not for a long time. Recalling Ryo's lessons, Gingka's frown deepened. That constellation was Draco, the one Ldrago had been based on. Why was it shining?

"Hello, is anyone out there?" a familiar yet unplaceable voice called.

"Yes!" Gingka replied. "This is Gingka Hagane. Who are you? Show yourself!"

The person, whoever they were, laughed. "That would be hard to do. I am currently located in Europe. This is Julian Konzern."

"Julian!" Gingka was first excited, then confused. "Wait, how are you talking to me?"

Just then, Kyoya, Nile, Bao and Aguma came out of the RV yawning. "Why are you shouting so loudly Gingka? It's barely morning."

 _Ugh, Kyoya's always on my case_ , Gingka thought.

"Hey, you didn't have to say that out loud," Kyoya snapped back.

"But I didn't," insisted Gingka.

"You know, I heard him say it, but I didn't see his mouth move," Nile noted.

"We can read everyone's mind?" asked Aguma, who had noticed the same thing.

"Everyone calm down. I can explain."

"That's Julian Konzern," Gingka told the other four.

"Right," Bao said slowly. This whole conversation wasn't making any sense.

"The reason we can all talk in our minds is because I have enacted Project Galahad." It seriously sounded like Julian was right there in the clearing with them. "Project Galahad is a program of sorts which I created. The frequency which it emits resonates with the power of the beys inside former bladers, allowing their minds to be linked and therefore speak to each other, this way we can group together and take down Nemesis. So what are your locations? Wait, before you answer, I need you to focus your minds and pretend you are talking to me and me alone. That way no one else will overhear us."

"Right." Gingka pictured himself speaking to Julian. "We're just outside of Tokyo, Japan. We have myself, Kyoya, Nile, Aguma and Bao, Team Wang Hu Zhong, Tsubasa, Yu, Kenta, Yuki, Hikaru and Madoka."

"Wow, quite the group. I have the rest of my team here in Italy with me along with Masamune and King."

"Masamune!" Gingka exclaimed. He had wondered where his friend was.

"Hi Gingka!" The voice was clearly Masamune's. From the way Kyoya and the others were grimacing, they too could hear.

Julian must have told Masamune the same thing about control, because he only spoke to Gingka from then on, telling him how things had been going until Julian cut him off. "We still need to find Tithi, Dynamis and Chris to complete the ranks of the Legendary Bladers. Unfortunately, I will have to reach out blindly for them, which could compromise our security."

"You're talking about Jack and Damian, right?" Bao guessed.

"So you know too?" asked Julian.

"We fought Jack," Aguma said shortly. "But he called in backup, so we had to leave China."

"Ah, so one of you was the Crimson Flash?"

"Bao," replied Aguma.

"Okay. Well, I'll talk to you later. I need to get ahold of the other three."

Gingka grinned. Boy oh boy did he have a lot to tell everyone who was still asleep!

xXxXx

"Did you hear that?" Ryuto asked. "I could have sworn I heard someone calling out for Dynamis, Tithi and Chris."

"I heard," said Dynamis. He was still trying to puzzle through why Draco had appeared in the sky last night. He had asked for a sign to show that the work of the Legendary Bladers was not yet done. Could that possibly be it?

Demure looked around with his x-ray vision activated. "I don't see anyone anywhere."

"Dynamis, Tithi, Chris," the voice repeated.

"What?" yelled Tithi.

"No need to yell so loud. I can hear you just fine. This is Julian Konzern, leader of Team Excalibur during the Beyblade World Championships. I am gathering the Legendary Bladers and their friends together near Tokyo, Japan. Gingka, Kyoya, Yuki and Aguma are already gathered there."

"Well at our current rate of travel it will take us some time just to get out of Egypt," quipped Chris.

"Egypt, huh? No problem. I can swing by and pick you up. How many are in your group?"

Dynamis answered. "Six."

"Hmm. I'll have to take the jet, then. Do any of you have a power that could signal us?"

"I can send up a signal beam," Chris volunteered.

"It's a plan. We will arrive in a few hours. Be ready." With that, Julian ceased to speak.

"Well, that just happened." Ryuto sat down in the dirt of the barren landscape they were walking through.

Benkei soon joined him. "What? There's no point in standing if we are getting picked up in a few hours." His stomach growled. "I hope they have food."

Demure and Tithi sat too. Eventually, even Dynamis and Chris stopped staring into the sky and sat as well. The hot sun scorched the earth, and everyone constantly wiped at their foreheads to stop sweat from falling into their eyes. Everyone's surface thoughts floated around into each other's minds.

"This is annoying," Chris voiced out loud. He saw that Tithi was currently imagining jumping into a giant bowl of ice cream, Benkei was salivating at a pile of imaginary burgers, Ryuto and Dynamis, thankfully, had fallen asleep, while Demure was staring into nothingness. Only those last three weren't sending out their thoughts which worked their way into the former Orion blader's mind. Hopefully this Julian guy had an off switch for it or something. Eventually, he too drifted off to sleep.

"Chris! Chris!" Demure shook him awake. By the position of the sun in the west, several hours had passed. "I heard an engine in the sky."

The blond nodded and sent up a pillar of red light into the sky. Gradually, the engine noise came closer until first Demure and then everyone else could see the shape of an airplane.

Thankfully, the earth was packed hard, so landing the jet was no problem. "Hey everybody!" called out King, jumping off, followed by Masamune. "Hop aboard, we're heading to Japan!"

He winced under the barrage of voices and thoughts that came from the group. "Look, the way to control your thoughts is to either pretend to speak to a person, but not say anything out loud, or to create a mental shield of sorts. Picture a wall around your thoughts and nothing will leak out."

As the group boarded the plane and took off, they all were soon able to master the technique. Benkei devoured several plates of food, while the others each ate their fill for the first time in over a week. Sophie and Wales were communicating silently with Kyoya and Nile, who were going to signal where they should land the jet. Eventually, they just talked to Nile because Benkei's commentary about his life to Kyoya was getting in the way. Ryuto looked around the lush jet, amazed by the show of wealth.

"What happened to your legs?" Tithi asked Julian curiously as Klaus wheeled him out of the cockpit.

Dynamis shushed him, telling him not to be so rude.

"The plan to rescue King turned south," Konzern explained. "I was gravely injured in battle against Damian, whose power is the strongest I have ever encountered."

"Let me see," Dynamis said, walking over and removing Julian's blanket despite his upset expression. "Oh." Julian wore loose-fitting athletic shorts as his usual dressy pants would be hard to get on and off with his deadened legs. Dynamis placed a hand on Julian's leg, which started to glow. The glow spread through his lower legs, and Dynamis had to look away as it was so bright. When the light faded and Dynamis removed his hands, Julian's legs appeared completely healed.

Shocked, Dynamis stumbled backward as Julian stood up for the first time since his battle. "I… have another power?"

"It is uncommon, but you are not the only one," Julian told him. "I have two as well. Thank you for healing me."

Dynamis nodded, still in shock.

xXx

A few hours later, it was dark out and a glowing runway stretched out in front of them as the jet descended. "Wow!" Tithi smushed his face against the window as they landed in a barren wilderness.

After disembarking, they realized Nile had placed Mystic Zone pillars in lines to create the outline of a runway for the jet to land. Masamune was the first to jump out and greet Gingka, Toby and Zeo. Tithi ran over to Yu and the two of them caught up with each other on the walk back to base camp. Benkei was sad Kyoya was missing, but he and Aguma and Bao had gone to get more housing for the newcomers.

Gingka left Masamune to catch up with Toby and Zeo and walked back to speak to Chris, Ryuto and Dynamis, who were looking a little lost.

Back at camp, everyone told each other what powers they had and started to form a battle plan against Nemesis. Every so often, stray thoughts leaked around, but for the most part they all kept it under control. Their telepathic abilities would surely come in handy for silent communication during battle. By now, the three had returned with yet another RV, which Bao had found by running around with his superspeed and Kyoya and Aguma had then carried back with their superstrength. Benkei had tearfully hugged Kyoya, who surprisingly allowed it for a few seconds before pulling away, although he didn't appear to be thrilled about it.

Finally, as dawn approached, they all decided to call it a night. Until Demure suddenly gasped. "We're surrounded!"

"By who?" Dashan asked, already in a fighting stance along with the rest of Wang Hu Zhong.

"Nemesis bladers."

"Let it rip!" sounded in their ears as hundreds of beys were launched, whizzing through the air.

Gingka and Tsubasa took flight. "We need to drive them into the open, follow our lead!" The former Eagle blader silently communicated. The group followed his lead; Bao and Masamune racing toward the direction Gingka and Tsubasa were heading at superspeed while Nile tried to block the beys flying at them from behind with a Mystic Zone shield. It only held for a few seconds though. It was made to fight Nemesis' powers, not that of beybladers.

Kyoya sent beys flying out of their path until the whole group made it to the barren landscape west of camp. Now that they were out in the open, everyone used their powers to stop the beys. Exhausted from being up all night, the battle was trying, but eventually the tide turned in their favor. Dynamis struck down beys with lightning bolts while Ryuto and Chris did the same with their electricity and light beams. Tithi had turned himself and Yu invisible and they were having fun kicking the beys and even using Inferno Blast a few times on the stronger ones. Wang Hu Zhong and Beylin Fist were using their usual tactics from the streets of Hong Kong. Nile had switched to using his air currents while Kyoya kept using tornados. King was decked out with Ares' sword and shield while Julian wielded Black Excalibur. All the while, they mentally exchanged comments, noting where extra reinforcements were needed and so on.

A cheer went up when the bladers of Nemesis finally crumbled under the assault and turned tail. Kyoya and Nile shared a fist bump while Gingka and Masamune shared a superspeed chest bump. "Ow," they both complained as they flew backward and landed on bottoms. Toby and Zeo rolled their eyes at their antics.

"Shades!" The cry froze everyone in their tracks. Shades were spawning all over the clearing. The fight began anew, this one for their very lives. As the shades fell, however, new ones took their places, but eventually even their numbers thinned. Nemesis had to be tiring of regenerating the shades.

Unfortunately, that was not the cause. A helicopter roared to life and down parachuted Jack, Damian, Herschel, Cycnus, Keyser, all four Garcias and Johannes.

A few feet from the ground, Jack slashed his parachute off and dropped down the rest of the way. Damian's parachute disintegrated to ash the second he touched down. The others disposed of their equipment the normal way and launched their beys. Those without the strongest of attack powers were left to deal with them as the others took on the shades and the two former members of Starbreaker.

Kyoya and Nile found themselves struggling to defend themselves from the onslaught of Damian's Cerberus and flaming bow and arrows until they were joined by King, Julian and Dashan. Damian simply laughed. "My powers have grown even stronger since we last battled, Julian. I don't know how you survived my attack, yet alone are walking, but mark my words: you will go down to the depths of defeat yet again!"

Nile blocked several more arrows with a Mystic Zone shield and sent air currents at Cerberus. The beast simply blew them away with a fiery breath, which Kyoya then blew away with a tornado. It was a stalemate. Dashan was melting the earth beneath the skeletal army's feet into lava, but only a few sank into it. Damian simply imagined the ground whole again. It was a battle of will versus imagination. Those skeletal warriors who made it past were locked in battle with King and Julian.

Aguma and Bao were doing their usual tag-team work on the shades while Chi-yun, Mei-Mei, Yu, Tithi and Tsubasa faced the Garcia siblings. Chao Xin had used his enchanter powers to convince Selen to turn on her siblings, and now general chaos was ensuing.

Dynamis altered between striking down shades with lightning bolts and healing the injured while Chris and Ryuto simply focused on the shades. Demure and Yuki were watching along with Madoka and Hikaru, as Yuki felt useless out in the open with his power. Madoka had been given a computer thanks to Julian Konzern and was analyzing the beys of Herschel, Cycnus and Keyser as they fought against Gingka, Masamune, Toby and Zeo, yelling out advice to them just as she used to do in the past, since she was not able to communicate with them through Project Galahad.

Benkei and Klaus were swinging tree trunks at shades, shattering their forms while Sophie and Wales tried to drown Johannes' Lynx bey with their water powers. Everyone was so preoccupied that they didn't notice Kenta struggling alone against Jack.

"You will be my latest work of art!" the crazed former Befall blader was telling Kenta as he slashed at him with knife-like hands. His entire body was turned steel-dense so as not to be effected as greatly by the spirals of flaming punches and kicks Kenta sent his way.

 _I must not lose_ , Kenta thought, redoubling his efforts. _Everyone else is fighting hard to hold off Damian, the city leaders and the shades. I have to do my part here and now!_ "Aah!" His body glowed hot with flame and he charged Jack all while sending a steady stream of fire at him.

At that moment Hikaru looked over, hearing Kenta's cry, and shouted out his name, seeing Jack about to bring his arm down in one swift motion for a killing blow. "Kenta!"

Kenta froze in place – the exact opposite of what he should have done, which was get the hell out of there – and watched in slow motion as his life was about to end.

As Hikaru watched in horror, she was forced to turn away as a blinding flash of red lightning struck next to Jack, who stumbled backward, disoriented. Hikaru blinked. Kenta was gone! A split second later, the same lightning struck between her and Madoka. When the light dissipated, Hikaru gasped and took a step backward. It was Ryuga! He looked much the same, with his black clothing, white coat-cape, and golden gauntlet on his arm, though Ldrago Destructor was clearly missing from it. But as he set Kenta down, she noticed he no longer wore the golden dragon circlet upon his head. Without a word of greeting, Ryuga vanished yet again and reappeared next to Jack in another flash of lightning.

By now, the commotion had everyone's battles paused. Even the shades halted and turned their heads to watch with interest as Ryuga lifted Jack off the ground by the throat with one hand. "So you fight on the side of Nemesis." It was a statement, not a question.

"You would have been my greatest masterpiece," Jack choked out, apparently still hung-up on his loss in the Beyblade World Championships. "Die!" He flailed, trying to get at Ryuga, but to everyone's astonishment, his skin paled and he soon fell limp.

"You would have killed everyone here," Ryuga told the now-corpse of Jack as he dropped it to the ground. "Psycho." He looked around and saw everyone still looking at him. Gingka had his mouth wide open. "Stop gaping Gingka. We have a battle to win."

 _Did Ryuga really just include himself in this battle?_ Gingka thought. _Also, how is he even alive?_

"Argh!" yelled Damian. "You _killed_ him! He may have never been my friend, but since he was my former teammate, for the sake of that you will die!"

A more immense skeletal army than before appeared with a burst of energy which knocked Kyoya, Nile, Julian, King and Dashan backward and charged Ryuga. The former Ldrago blader snorted in disdain, spreading his arms forward as jets of flame gushed forth from them, disintegrating the skeletons in an instant.

"No problem. I'll fight fire with fire!" A black dragon appeared between Damian and Ryuga.

By this point, the city leaders had redoubled their attacks, as had the shades, so everyone else had to fight instead of spectating. Yuki couldn't help but watch though, as the dragon opened its mouth and breathed out a blast of fire right at Ryuga, who stood there and took it.

Damian laughed as his enemy burned. But his laughter soon faded. He clutched his chest and sank to one knee, dragon and fire both vanishing. Appearing to have recovered, he rose, anger etched onto every feature. "You… you drained my energy!"

Ryuga gave him a sly smirk. "For someone who was once a fake blader, I am surprised by the extent of your power. That being said, you are nothing compared to me!" Ryuga shot a jet of flame at Damian, who blocked it with a pillar of earth.

In a burst of pure energy which forced everyone, even Ryuga, to look away for an instant, Damian suddenly wore golden armor and bore a golden sword and shield as he stood on a slight mound of earth with a glowing array of golden spears hovering around him in a semicircle. With a gesture, the spears flew toward Ryuga. He teleported with a flash and stood next to Damian, placing a palm on the armor and beginning to drain. His eyes widened as the armor disappeared and Damian fell to the ground, looking much like Jack had. With a glance at the earth he was standing on, he turned to see how the battle was going.

During his fight with Damian, Kyoya and Nile had helped fight the American leaders while King took out Johannes. Julian had persuaded the Garcias (with the help of Chao Xin) to change over to the side of the Legendary Bladers. After seeing what Ryuga had done to Jack, they decided that this time around, Nemesis was going to lose, and therefore chose to join the winning side.

The same could not be said about Herschel, Cycnus and Keyser. They saw their eminent defeat and chose to flee. Unfortunately for them, Nemesis was none too happy with their decision and the shades turned on them, draining their energy until they had none left to live on. With a couple strikes of lightning from Dynamis, most of the shades remaining vaporized. Ryuto picked off the few that were left with bursts of green electricity. None reappeared – Nemesis knew he had lost this round.

The others had all clustered around Johannes, lying unconscious on the ground thanks to King. "What should we do with him?" the Greek was asking.

"Kill him. He'll only be trouble alive," Aguma said, speaking from experience. Jack had, after all, been left alive thanks to Dashan and look at the trouble he had caused.

"We can't just kill him!" Gingka exclaimed, shocked by Aguma's words.

Aguma glanced at Bao, who spoke next. "Fine. Give me his bey."

Yuki passed Johannes' Beat Lynx to Gingka, who passed it to Bao, who handed it to Aguma, who crushed it in one hand. "Now he won't be able to fight for Nemesis anymore."

Gingka sighed. At least Aguma hadn't insisted on killing him. Many of his friends and companions now sat in the dirt, thoroughly fatigued. Tithi and Yu had fallen asleep even, leaning against each other. Ryuga… was gone. Gingka looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Kenta walked next to Gingka on the way back to camp, glowing with happiness. Ryuga was alive! Gingka, knowing why Kenta was so happy, radiated a dark aura. The guy he had been so angry with all these months actually had the audacity to be alive, not to mention easily defeat two people the rest of them had been struggling against. He better have a good explanation.

Lightning flashed and Ryuga fell into stride next to Gingka. "I do have a very good explanation. But it can wait until morning."

Flushing red, Gingka realized he hadn't been blocking his thoughts properly. Once back at camp, he helped Madoka and the others from his original group scrape together what they could in terms of food, which wasn't much, until Ryuga reappeared with a platter of food. "Straight from Johannes' lair," he told them, teleporting back and forth a few more times with more food before digging into it himself.

Everyone ate their fill and then some, needing the calories after the big battle. And that couldn't be the last one either. Everyone had noticed the absences of both Rago and Pluto. Perhaps even now, as they all lay down to rest along with the Garcias – now dedicated to the cause of good – the two of them were planning the endgame.

* * *

 **I kept waiting for someone to suspect Ryuga was alive, but no one really mentioned it. Well here he is! What did you think?**


	16. Chapter 16

**A day late again; sorry everyone. This wasn't even that long of a chapter to proofread... I know it's a bit of a filler type chapter, but the endgame is coming soon!**

* * *

Kyoya and Nile's whispering woke Aguma and Bao the next morning. "Now we know why Kenta never got a second power," Nile was saying.

Kyoya grunted. "Who would have guessed that guy was still alive and kicking after he got thrashed by Rago and Nemesis."

"Careful," Bao counseled them, recalling how Ryuga had knocked out him, Johannes, Zeo, Toby and Benkei with ease to get into the South American ruins. "Don't let him hear you say anything like that."

Kyoya frowned but knew Bao was right. This Ryuga seemed different, but not _that_ different. Whatever. He was interested in Ryuga's promised story this morning, so he, Nile and the two Beylin Fist members headed out to eat last night's leftovers for breakfast.

Gradually, everyone emerged well rested from their quarters. Madoka and Hikaru had gone to work and Ryuga had vanished, so most everyone entertained themselves by swapping stories while the younger ones played. Yu clapped when Tithi did his 'teleporting' stunt, although in his mind, Ryuga's lightning bolt teleportation was way more impressive. Kyoya and Nile took a group fishing in their old spot and brought back some dinner. Kenta lit the fire himself.

After Madoka and Hikaru arrived back, the group ate their dinner together. Soon after the food leftovers had been cleared, a flash of red lightning signaled Ryuga's return. He stood near the fire and everyone took a seat on the ground nearby.

Ryuga let out a sigh and began. "You all wanted my story, here it is. After my… defeat by Rago and Nemesis, Ldrago disintegrated and its constellation dimmed as it gave its power to me. Ldrago used some of that power to take me to a cave on an island in the Pacific, where I lay healing for a few days. That was while you all continued to fight Nemesis. Thanks to my constellation's power, that time was short – three days after Nemesis took over."

Argo narrowed his eyes. So the unknown person Rago had spoken of in their tele-meeting had actually been Ryuga.

"So on that third day I arose, completely healed, and used Ldrago's fire to annihilate a group of shades. Later that day I discovered my teleportation power and then that night I awakened my energy drain. However, that final power is what made Nemesis suspicious. You see, all of your own powers, along with my fire power, send shades back to the black sun to recharge, whereas my energy drain actually takes power from Nemesis. Once Rago himself visited the island, I knew I had to be less conspicuous. So I left, teleporting myself to India. I operated back and forth from there to Russia, figuring Rago wouldn't make the connection since there were Beyblade World Championship teams in both countries and only former bladers possess special powers.

"It worked. No one paid attention to me and I amassed more power than ever before. Then yesterday I heard the lot of you squawking to each other in my head about joining up outside of Tokyo and saw visions of battle through your eyes. I decided now was the time to put my full power to the test, but was left sorely disappointed."

Julian looked up thoughtfully. No one else had seen visions thanks to Project Galahad. Could it be that since Ryuga had such a strong connection to his constellation, that bond enabled him to actually _see_ and not just hear what was going on with other former bladers?

"But that doesn't explain why your constellation appeared in the sky," Gingka butted in. "I have two powers and so do Kyoya and Nile, but neither of us have our constellations in the sky."

"Because you haven't unlocked your final power," Ryuga explained patiently. Kyoya frowned. How had he not known about this? And since when had Ryuga become patient?

"Watch and learn, Gingka." Ryuga's golden eyes blinked once, and the red and orange form of Ldrago, which his rival was very familiar with, seemed to emerge from Ryuga himself and take its place several feet above him, roaring. "This is the final step of the process; being able to summon the spirit of your constellation. However, this can only be achieved by the bladers of the four seasons, who hold star fragments."

"I see," Nile spoke up. "Kyoya and I came across pictures in an ancient room which depicted this defeat of Nemesis. The four spirits of the constellations need to surround Nemesis at the four points of the compass – north, south, east and west."

"Then Zeus' Barrier can be completed," Dynamis finished.

Ryuga shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Kyoya concentrated on his connection with Leone, picturing the roaring lion standing next to him, and sure enough, his constellation's spirit appeared at his side. The next to appear was Chris' Orion, who appeared as in the myths surrounding him – a young hunter wielding the bow and arrow – instead of the usual form taken by his Orion bey. Everyone's gaze turned to Gingka, who squinted his eyes shut to concentrate. Nothing happened.

"Relax!" Ryuga barked at him. "You cannot connect with your constellation by straining yourself."

Madoka put a hand on Gingka's shoulder as the redhead let out the breath he had been holding. Everyone stared intently at him as he closed his eyes to concentrate. A minute later, Pegasus reared up in the sky above his head. "Yes!" Gingka fist-pumped the air.

Dynamis and the other Legendary Bladers led the cheering. Pegasus and the other spirits soon vanished, knowing their work for the day was done. It was true: night was quickly falling. One by one, the group departed, Ryuga teleporting off in a flash. Soon, Madoka and Hikaru were the only ones left.

"What's wrong?" Madoka asked her friend. She could tell Hikaru was upset about something.

"My bey disappeared too," Hikaru told her. "You know that already. But I never received any powers. I know I haven't bladed seriously since Battle Bladers, but Aquario and I stood our own against Dr. Ziggurat's people during the Hades Inc. crisis."

Madoka didn't know what to say. The only time she had launched a bey into battle was to break Yu's Inferno Blast special move. So she gave her friend a pat on the back and told her to get some sleep. They had to work the next day, after all. Johannes had crawled back to his tower the next morning and seemed to be pretending the battle had never happened. At least, none of the citizens of Tokyo knew their leader had been defeated a day ago. Madoka left to prepare for bed, leaving Hikaru staring into the now-embers of the fire.

She jolted upright at the soft sound of footsteps approaching. Ryuga sat down across the fire from her. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, drawing away.

"Is that any way to greet the one who is only reason your little friend is still alive today?" he replied.

Hikaru flinched. He was right. If not for him, Kenta would have been killed by Jack.

"You know," Ryuga continued, "I think I remember you from somewhere. Have we met before?"

"Battle Bladers." Hikaru could barely force the words out.

Ryuga thought for a moment. "Oh, that's right. I fought you in the first round. Hmm. For some reason it's hard to recall."

The former Aquario blader shuddered. Ryuga's body had been completely controlled by the dark power of Lightning Ldrago during their battle. That must be why he himself was hazy on the details.

"So what is your power?" Was this really happening? Was Ryuga trying to make small talk with her?

"I don't have any," she confessed. "I… haven't had serious bey battles since Battle Bladers. My connection with Aquario must not be strong enough."

The former Ldrago blader opened his mouth to reply, but instead took on a pained expression and clutched at his chest. Hikaru watched in shock as the fiery form of Ldrago came out of Ryuga and hovered before her in the air. It opened its mouth, and to the surprise of both Hikaru and Ryuga, began to speak to her. "Hikaru Hasama, I cannot give you a power, but I can give back what I took from you."

Ldrago pressed its snout to her forehead, and she was flooded with warmth and emotion she hadn't felt since her last real bey battle. "My blader's spirit," she whispered as Ldrago vanished back into its chosen human.

Ryuga had schooled his features back into a blank mask by the time Hikaru had somewhatly recovered from her shock and wonder. "You seem different," she told him, though not accusingly. "And I'm not just talking about your outfit."

He involuntarily reached for his dragon circlet, which was no longer there on his brow. "I'm not different."

"Yes you are," Gingka cut in. "Don't try to deny it."

Ryuga sighed. "What do you want Gingka?"

"There's something fishy going on," the former Pegasus blader insisted. "You conveniently show up, have _three_ powers and are acting all… humble? What happened to the whole 'I'm the Dragon Emperor. I'm the strongest blader' act?"

Ryuga's eyes narrowed. Hikaru leaned back to avoid being directly in the middle of what she thought would for sure be a fight. But Ryuga stayed sitting. "It isn't an act. I _was_ the Dragon Emperor. Until I was defeated by Rago." Now he stood. "When an Emperor falls in battle, the spoils of war go to the victor." He reached into a pocket and the two of them saw a glint of gold. It was his dragon circlet.

"So Rago is the Dragon Emperor?" Gingka was still angry, and also confused now as well.

"You're missing the point, Gingka. What I mean is that I will work with the other bladers of the four seasons. I should never have let Doji antagonize me into breaking the formation for Zeus' Barrier."

Gingka carefully kept his expression blank. Was his greatest rival admitting he had made a mistake? However, he let it slide. It was getting late, and no one knew when Rago and/or Pluto would next attack them. He needed to get some sleep.

Once again, Hikaru and Ryuga were left alone. The former seemed to have spontaneously developed a fascination with the latter, who winced. "I can hear your thoughts," he told her. They were quite loud inside his skull.

"The return of my blader's spirit must have enabled me to connect with the link Project Galahad created," she voiced out loud.

He nodded. With time, her mental shield would improve. Until then, he would have to put up with her thoughts floating around. "The Dragon Emperor rules alone," he said as he disappeared in a strike of red lightning.

Hikaru turned crimson as she returned to her bunk. He had heard that thought? How embarrassing! A part of her cringed inwardly. Why did she suddenly feel such a strong connection to Ryuga after all the pain he had caused her because of Battle Bladers. _Why do I want to become his Empress?_

* * *

 **Next chapter: the final battle commences! Stay tuned, there are only two chapter left!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I really do enjoy reading each of them! Without further ado, I give you chapter 17: the final battle against Nemesis commences!**

* * *

Demure cracked one eye open. He looked through the camper wall with his x-ray vision and noticed that his ears had not betrayed him: they were surrounded yet again. "Wake up!" he screamed both out loud and in his head. As he, Benkei and the others in the camper piled out, an explosion went off not far from it, charring the opposite side.

"They've got choppers bombing us!" came the voice of Tsubasa, who along with Gingka was flying to disable the threats.

A brewing storm cloud and a flash of pure white light followed by a burst of green energy signaled Dynamis and Ryuto were helping with the helicopters as well. As Demure scanned the area for hidden threats, the Garcias, Wang Hu Zhong, Beylin Fist and some others were holding off a swarm of bladers. It was hard to see in the predawn light, so Demure was in charge of letting people know where help was needed. Madoka and Hikaru gave advice to the Garcias, all four of whom were holding off Pluto himself.

"You ungrateful bunch," spat the leader of Hong Kong. "After the wealth and power Nemesis gave you, you still switched sides?"

"Yep!" Selen replied, her Gasher sweeping in to deal some damage to his Firefuse Darkhelm, which easily pushed her back.

"You lot are pathetic," he spat. But the Garcias stuck on his bey, leaving him no option but to continue to battle the four of them.

Meanwhile, shades were swarming in from the opposite direction with only Yu, Kenta and Tithi standing in their way.

"Geepers!" Tithi turned the three of them invisible and they tried to stem the flow, but were continually pressed back; until the thundercloud overhead flashed red and Ryuga appeared. With his waves of fire alongside Kenta's fire and Yu's Inferno Blast, the shades eventually realized it was a losing battle and stood back at a safe distance.

"Yes!" Yu shouted in victory. "We showed them!"

Ryuga sported a smug smirk. Nemesis himself would have to show up to save this battle. And that was exactly what he wanted.

Back on the other side of the battle, the number of bladers was thinning as well. Kyoya sent one last tornado toward the bladers and Nile one last are current. The two of them turned and saw the shades parting on each side. A figure with long black hair was walking through their midst toward the Legendary Bladers: Rago.

He clapped stiffly and forced a smile. "I suppose I should congratulate you all on making it this far." Everyone not yet finished battling turned toward him as the Nemesis bladers snapped to attention. _See, I'm working on my anger problem, Nemesis. Be proud._

"I am proud," came a booming voice from the sky. Rago gazed up as everyone else flinched away from the voice of the god of destruction. "And I will reward you by letting you host my form."

A dark, terrible energy fell upon Rago, who let it consume him until he and Nemesis had merged. For a moment, everyone was frozen, but then the Nemesis bladers began their assault anew, and the non-Legendary Bladers, led by Nile, Dashan, Julian, Tsubasa and Argo continued the battle.

"We will hold them off. You focus on whatever that thing is," Dashan told them.

Gingka nodded. "Okay everybody, attack!"

Kyoya rolled his eyes, but sent a burning tree hurtling at Nemesis with his superstrength. The monster just swatted it aside and… launched a bey? That's right! Nemesis' power was cloaking Rago, so the bey must be the old Nemesis with only a bit of power still in it. Enough to need the Legendary Bladers to divide and conquer, though.

"Let us solar system bladers take care of that bey," Dynamis said while sending a lightning bolt down at it. "You seasonal bladers need to focus on forming Zeus' Barrier around what used to be Rago."

Gingka gulped. That thing looked scary, but this had to be done. He kicked in both of his powers and zoomed up to distract the monster so the others could get in position.

The creature that used to be Rago roared and swatted at the former Pegasus blader, but could not hit him. "Rawrgh!" it cried out as Kyoya hit it with a tornado at the same time Chris hit it with a red beam of destructive light. It was no use though; the shreds caused by the tornado closed immediately, as did the punctures caused by the light.

"Is everyone ready?" Chris yelled.

"Ready," came Kyoya's answer.

"Set!" Gingka whizzed into place and prepared to call forth Pegasus.

"No!"

The three of them tried to see where Ryuga was and why it was taking him so long. The guy could teleport for goodness sake! He should have been the first one in place!

Kyoya slanted his eyebrows into a puzzled expression while Gingka openly gaped. "I can't see, what's going on?" Chris was on the opposite side from the summer constellation spot and couldn't see a thing through the giant monster in the midst of the four of them.

Ryuga was standing right next to Nemesis, looking up. "You. You are still alive?" the monster roared as it swung a massive arm at him. "Die!"

When the shadowy arm made contact though, Ryuga did not die. Instead, a red aura shone around him, enveloping Nemesis' limb and creeping further along its body. "You call yourself the god of destruction?" the bearer of the summer fragment spat as Rago's face appeared at the top of Nemesis' form, contorted in agony. "Then hand over all of your power to me! I will rule this world and retake what was stolen from me. Ahahahaha!"

"Don't do it Ryuga!" Gingka screamed at him. It turned out he had been wrong. Ryuga wasn't different. He had only been leading them on so he could drain all of Nemesis' power for himself.

The shadowy form of Nemesis was shrinking in on itself by now. "My… power…" Rago's face spoke out. Suddenly, the aura changed from red to dark purple and Ryuga began coughing, sinking to his knees and clutching at his chest, breaking contact with Nemesis.

"It's poison!" Dynamis exclaimed, leaving Aguma, Tithi, Yuki and King to face Rago's bey and running over to Ryuga's side.

"Muahahahaha!" laughed Nemesis/Rago. "Those shades that disappeared; you're the reason I was slowly losing power all these months. You're a fool. Shades hold only a small, dilute portion of my power. The power of the star fragment within you was enough to purify the toxins and make that energy yours; however, trying to drain _me_ in a similar manner would result in similar consequences to drinking concentrated hydrochloric acid. Muahaha! I'm surprised you haven't died of the toxins yet, worm."

"Don't… call me… that," Ryuga hissed out as Dynamis used his healing abilities to purge the toxic power from his system as quickly as possible. Feeling healed, he pushed the former Jade Jupiter blader away and stood as Ldrago emerged from his body, once again without him anticipating it.

"Your powers were given to protect you until you could seal Nemesis away," the dragon spirit told him. "Now use the strength I am giving you for its true purpose and not your own gain."

Looking mollified, Ryuga took his place. Pegasus appeared in the sky as did Leone. Chris froze Nemesis in place temporarily with a blue beam of light before calling forth the form of Orion. Zeus' Barrier began to form just as Nemesis broke through the ice, rendering the monster unable to move.

Seeing their god trapped, the Nemesis bladers surged forward once more, but Nile set up a Mystic Zone shield, allowing Dashan enough time to form an un-crossable lava trench around the place where the Legendary Bladers were doing battle. Pluto howled in anger as he saw the barrier beginning to form, and hardly noticed when Argo's Keel Strangler special move broke through his Firefuse Darkhelm's defenses and defeated him.

Before everyone's eyes, Aguma sealed Rago's bey deep in the earth. Dynamis sent lightning to strike the ground and harden it just to be sure, while King used the electrified sword of Ares to help. Zeus' Barrier formed in the sky, encompassing Nemesis in light and burying both him and Rago deep inside the earth.

"My lord Nemesis," Pluto gasped, despairing as his god's reign was ended. Before anyone could stop him, he stumbled forward into the lava pit, deciding to die rather than live without master Rago and his god.

With the battle finally won, all the former bladers gave a loud cheer. The sun had risen an hour ago, and due to battle fatigue and lack of sleep, most everyone was at the point of exhaustion. The Nemesis bladers, seeing that they had lost, surrendered peacefully, not willing to die for their cause like Pluto had.

After marching to Tokyo and proclaiming the end of Nemesis' reign to the world, Masamune, Toby and Zeo scoured the city to no avail. Johannes had vanished, and even Demure with his x-ray vision was unable to find him. As night fell upon the city though, no one really felt all that concerned. The stars were all shining in their rightful places now, and former bladers were finding their beys returning to their hands as if by magic.

Yu cradled his Libra as Kenta held his Sagittario, both as good as new. Masamune ran around with Striker in his hands, showing everyone it was back. "Wait, if Striker is back, why do you still have your superspeed?" King asked, still waiting for the return of his own Variares.

Masamune stood stock still. "Huh. I hadn't even thought about that."

While Nile examined his newly returned Horuseus, Kyoya sat next to him with his head in one hand, bored. "Humph. It seems the beys of Legendary Bladers need more time to recharge or something," he commented to his friend.

Nile nodded. Kyoya had tried summoning Leone's spirit form a few minutes ago, but nothing had happened. Turned out neither Gingka nor Chris could summon their beys' spirits either. Ryuga had teleported off after the battle to announce in all the cities formerly ruled by Nemesis loyalists that the god of destruction had been sealed away by the Legendary Bladers and Nemesis' reign of terror was over for good, so no one could ask whether or not he could still summon Ldrago.

"Yes! Finally!" Gingka and Kyoya glared at each other. Both had spoken the same thing at the same time. Leone and Pegasus had returned to them.

"Oh hey! My Orion!" Chris exclaimed. Dynamis merely smiled as he held Jade Jupiter, while Aguma proudly showed his Scythe Kronos to Bao, whose Hades Crown had returned over an hour ago. Tithi was running around with Yu now that his Quetzalcoatl had returned to him. Yuki was sitting with Madoka, who was shocked that Anubius was as good as new. Must be the magic of the stars. King, meanwhile, was celebrating the return of his Variares by telling Masamune they would battle the next day, and he would once again proclaim himself the king of victory.

"In your dreams!" the Striker blader replied, holding out his bey. "I'll defeat you and prove I'm number one!" Zeo and Toby merely rolled their eyes at the two's antics.

"Let's battle right now, Gingka!" Kyoya declared, holding up Leone.

"You're on!" Gingka prepared Pegasus on his launcher as the others gathered around. It had been an unspoken rule that the two rivals would have the first bey battle with their newly returned beys.

"Three, two, one, let it rip!" everyone yelled as a flash of red lightning signaled the return of Ryuga; just in time to witness the battle between rivals. Pegasus and Leone charged at each other… very slowly.

"What's wrong with you Leone?"

"Come on Pegasus!" Gingka encouraged his bey.

Everyone held their breath as the two beys finally reached each other. _Cling._ A collective sigh went out from those assembled. Leone and Pegasus wobbled and then spun next to each other. No amount of coaxing, yelling or threatening could get them to budge an inch.

"Ha ha ha!" Ryuga began laughing. "That was hilarious!"

Kyoya and Gingka glared at him as they retrieved their beys. This was _not_ helping their moods.

All of a sudden, the familiar form of Ldrago's spirit appeared before them all. "Greetings. I congratulate you all on the defeat of Nemesis. It all went as planned. You followed the will of the heavens and sealed Nemesis forever. The line of King Hades died with Pluto. As you know, your beys are now able to return to you, but they will not be at full power immediately."

Kyoya and Gingka glanced at each other. _That_ was the understatement of the year.

"It took a tremendous amount of energy for myself and the other planets and constellations to give our powers to each of you, and it will take time for that power to transfer from you back to your bey. Be patient and blade hard; your patience will be rewarded."

With that, the red dragon flew toward Ryuga. He held out a hand and the dragon's energy narrowed and pooled in his palm. When the glow vanished, Ldrago Destructor lay in his hand. A small smile graced his features. He placed his newly returned bey in its usual gauntlet on his arm. Then, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his dragon circlet and replaced it in its usual spot upon his head. With a particularly large bolt of red lightning, he teleported off, ignoring the annoyed looks of Gingka and Kyoya and the longing gaze of Hikaru. He had training to do.

"Well, now that that's cleared up, let's go train!" Gingka began to run off but was caught by Madoka.

"Just a minute mister. The world is still a mess and _someone_ needs to fix it."

Gingka gave her the puppy-eyed look of innocence and she found herself about to admit defeat when Julian Konzern stepped forward holding a tablet and looking quite authoritative.

"Not to worry. I have already devised the best plans for who should deal with what," the former leader of Excalibur told her. He then turned to address everyone, who stood at attention. "Sophie, Wales, Aguma and Bao will head to the western half of North America and fix the flooded landscape. Chris will use his ice beams to remake the northern polar ice caps while Dynamis returns the atmosphere to normal by sending a severe storm to sink the lost kingdom of Hades. Since that is where this all originated, destroying it should hopefully solve most of our problems."

Julian doled out tasks to the others remaining. With Project Galahad no longer working because their beys were back, there was no way to reach Ryuga, but it turned out to be a non-issue. He had indeed teleported off to train, but used the power he had built up from using his energy drain to heal the torn-up landscapes while traveling with Ldrago, as Kyoya and Nile noticed during their not-so-barren travels through Africa. No doubt he thought to make amends for his past mistakes.

As for Julian himself, he indeed took his place at the top of the world, but his position of power was one he used for the benefit of others. His Round Table Enterprises led the world in humanitarian aid. Eventually, the people would fall back into the pattern of their old governments, but for now, when everything was in shambles, they turned to him and the former bladers who had saved their world from the god of destruction.

* * *

 **Only one chapter left now. Wrap-ups of where everyone is later and how the world is returning to normal. See you next week for the final installment! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Well here it is, the final chapter. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, followed, or favorited! I appreciate you! :)**

* * *

Gingka sighed as he spun in circles on the chair in his office in Tokyo. Rebuilding the world was turning out to be a long and arduous task. The door to his office opened and in walked Madoka with a stack of papers. "Hard at work, huh?" she asked, walking over and giving him a peck on the cheek.

Gingka smiled. After several hints from friends, he had finally mustered up the courage to ask her out two months ago and couldn't have been happier when she had replied yes. "You're a lifesaver, Madoka," he said, grabbing the paperwork from her and taking a look at it. "The WBBA is hosting a showcase battle?"

Madoka nodded. "Tsubasa has been working on some sort of big bey battle for a while now. He wants it to draw the interest of both older and newer bladers alike."

"I see." Gingka knew Tsubasa had worked hard to get the WBBA recognized again after the Nemesis crisis. A big battle would be just the thing to pique the interest of bladers who had bugan blading both before and after Nemesis' reign.

"Then Kenta and Hikaru had a good idea they shared with him, and he agreed," Madoka continued. She had skimmed over the papers before bringing them to Gingka.

"What? Yuki is developing a new type of stadium?" Gingka had flipped to the middle of the stack.

Madoka smacked her forehead. Trust Gingka to skip to the middle of a document when the most important items for him to read were on the first couple pages. "Yeah. He said he was inspire by the power Anubius gave him and has christened it the 'Zero-G Stadium.' Why don't you take a look at those first few pages you skipped over?"

"Okay." Gingka complied, and as he read them his eyes widened. "No way!"

xXxXx

"It is good to see this country back on its feet," Dashan said to his friends.

"It is good that people are blading again," added Chi-yun.

It was true – for several months, people had been wary of powerful bladers and their newly returned beys. The beys of ordinary everyday bladers, after all, had not given them any special powers. As the powers of the blader faded, the power of his or her bey increased. In their group, only Aguma could still make the earth tremble on a good day. Other than that, everyone else was back to normal and their beys up to full power.

"Now that the government is setting itself back up we can focus on training new bladers of Beylin," Aguma commented. He and Bao had forged a friendship with the main school of Beylin Temple by helping Wang Hu Zhong during Nemesis' rule. Dashan had agreed that Aguma and Bao trade techniques with Beylin Temple bladers, which had only made the school stronger. By combining the best of attack and defensive styles, Beylin Temple once again stood near the top of beyblade and carried on its four thousand year old legacy.

Bao nodded. "Is anyone besides me planning on going to the WBBA showcase battle in Japan?"

Chi-yun nodded. "It looks like it will be a very interesting event; that is for sure."

Dashan agreed as he looked down from the balcony the four of them stood on. Mei-Mei and Chao Xin were having a bey battle below them. He wondered how much longer Chao Xin would be oblivious to the fact that she was interested in him. She hid it convincingly, but Dashan knew his teammates well. However, despite the loss of his enchanter powers, Chao Xin remained as popular with the ladies as usual.

Before the battle between Virgo and Aquario could be finished, a helicopter descended into the main area of Beylin Temple. The logo of the WBBA was clearly stamped on it. "Yoo hoo!" Yu waved out the door as I opened. Tithi hopped out after him. "We're here to pick you up to go to the big battle!"

"Already?" Mei-Mei recalled Aquario and Chao Xin did the same with his Virgo.

"Yeah," Yu said. "I don't know why so early. Maybe Tsubasi and Gingki want to catch up."

Dashan smiled. It _would_ be nice to catch up with his old Gan Gan Galaxy friends.

"Let's go then!" Mei-Mei said happily, climbing into the spacious helicopter. Chao Xin, Chi-yun and Dashan followed suit.

Bao and Aguma looked at each other and shrugged, following behind the others. As Chi-yun had said earlier, this battle promised to be an interesting one.

xXxXx

As for the Garcias, the bad guys turned good, they had returned to their native country of Brazil. The four of them had an easy job getting the country – and even the rest of South America – back on its feet. The entire continent had suffered significantly less damage than any other save Antarctica. The penguins there were doing just fine.

Argo, Ian, Selen and Enzo enjoyed beyblading with near as much joy as those who had lost their beys in the crisis. So while their country took care of itself, they enjoyed the amenities of being world-saving heroes.

xXxXx

Small chunks of slag fell from the top of a giant gravely heap. "I found one!" Ryuto grinned, holding up a gleaming opal. Australia had suffered about as much damage as South America. That is to say, very little.

"Wow, congratulations," came Chris' dry reply. He and Dynamis had tagged along with the treasure hunter because the former had nowhere pressing to be while the latter had no desire to return back to his mountain now that Nemesis was sealed forever. He had lived there for as long as he could remember, and now that the will of the heavens had been completed, he had no need to stare into the sky day and night looking for answers.

Ryuto stood and walked around the slag pile to face the two teens he had come to befriend. "Hey now, you don't sound all that excited there, Chris." He walked over and put a hand on the blond's shoulder. "I'll make a treasure hunter out of you yet!"

Dynamis sighed. The Dragonis blader was convinced that he was the master treasure hunter and that Dynamis and Chris were his hunters-in-training or something ridiculous like that. But the purple-haired blader had to admit this was more exciting than standing around Mist Mountain. So he followed Ryuto to the next slag heap and watched him slowly sift through it for treasure.

"Will you still be a blader for hire?" he asked Chris, trying to get a non-treasure hunting conversation going.

The Orion blader shrugged. "Maybe. I still need to have a job, you know. I realize that battling other bladers can create friendship, but that is only one of many things that can happen in battle. Besides, strong bladers are only now beginning to be accepted as normal once again." He shone a brief red light from his palm and sighed. "If someone wants to hire me, I'll leave that option open."

Dynamis stared off into the distance for a while before joining Ryuto in looking for opals in the slag. Chris raised an eyebrow, but the Jupiter blader just kept sifting. He had never done this before and was almost enjoying himself.

"Oh, what the heck." Chris threw up his hands and joined the two of them. Maybe Ryuto was right; treasure hunting seemed like something he could get interested in.

xXxXx

"I have to say, I never thought _I'd_ be sitting in this chair," Masamune drawled as he video chatted with Toby and Zeo. He was sitting in Herschel's old spot in his office within the Empire State Building. Usually he was sitting across the desk being told what to do. Of course, over the past year that had changed. At first it had been difficult coordinating efforts with Toby and Zeo on the cities' welfare, but after a month, most of the work had gone back to the government officials, who were more than happy to take back their old jobs. By this point, the three friends were back to being almost normal citizens. With a few perks for helping overthrow Nemesis of course.

"We should come for a visit, eh Masamune?" Toby was telling his friend.

"Yeah!" the Striker blader agreed enthusiastically. He hadn't seen Zeo in a month and Toby in a few weeks, so all his problems would be better if they came. "See you soon!" he said happily, closing the laptop. Maybe a visit from his two friends – and a bey battle too – would help him get over the slump he had been in since King left two months ago.

The Variares blader wanted to visit the west and check on the rebuilding that had been going on there ever since Sophie and Wales had cleared the flooding, Aguma had raised the earth back to its usual topography, and the land bloomed once more thanks to Ryuga.

So King had set off to train in the west and encourage people to begin blading again in their free time. From the few letters that reached Masamune, King was idolized by the children, some of whom followed him around the countryside and dedicated themselves to blading (if their parents allowed it). Masamune couldn't help thinking of Gingka, who had also lived on his own before coming to town and meeting Kenta, Benkei, Kyoya and the others, setting off the chain of events leading to Battle Bladers, the World Championships and then the Nemesis crisis. One day, these children would be the new face of blading.

"But not today," he said out loud, launching his bey so it could follow him to the elevator. "Come on Striker! We have a battle to prepare for!" Together the two raced for the large-screen television downstairs, where the big WBBA showcase battle would be broadcast worldwide.

xXxXx

Team Wild Fang minus Benkei sat in Julian Konzern's parlor speaking with him, Sophie, Wales and Klaus. Now that most countries' governments were back on their feet, Julian was no longer looked up to as a leader worldwide, but still played a role in post-Nemesis cleanup.

"So now that the world's back to some sense of order, what will you do?" Demure asked Konzern and the others.

"I'll keep on running Round Table Enterprises, what else?" Julian replied, as his company was still ranked number one in the world in both the sales and donations categories.

"Focus on blading," Kyoya said without hesitation.

"Same," added Nile. The two of them may have toured the world helping with restoration while their powers remained and then advocating for beyblade when their powers receded, but both of them missed having the sport of blading central in their lives.

Kyoya held out a hand and a small tornado appeared and vanished in an instant. "Having powers was great, but I'm glad Leone is up to full power again."

It seemed that despite the fact that his bey was back up to the power level it had been at before losing to Nemesis, he along with the other Legendary Bladers were still able to access a small fraction of their powers. Dynamis had told them this was most likely the receding power of the star fragments, which took longer to return to their beys because they had not been a part of said bey for as long as the constellations or planets had been.

"Then you and Gingka can finally have a proper battle," Klaus commented, recalling their earlier problems with their beys.

Kyoya scowled. He hated being reminded of that.

"So is Benkei off to see the big bey battle the WBBA is setting up?" Sophie asked curiously, as he was the only Wild Fang team member missing.

Nile nodded. "The WBBA contacted us, saying they would provide us with transportation to it, but Kyoya declined. He said the next time he saw Gingka it would be for their very own battle."

Julian glanced at the Leone blader, who had his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "I hope he's ready to lose. Again."

Nile furrowed his brow at his friend's words, but continued on. "Benkei accepted. He wanted to see Gingka, Madoka, Yu, Kenta and all the others. So here we are."

There was a moment of comfortable silence. "So do you think Tsubasa will set up another Beyblade World Championship Tournament sometime soon?" Wales asked.

Demure shook his head as Kyoya and Nile glanced at each other, but it was Julian who responded. "Not for at least another year, I suspect."

Wales shrugged. It hadn't hurt to ask. Sophie picked up the TV remote and pointed it at the screen. "Ready to watch the battle?" she asked.

Kyoya smirked. "Ready."

Nile nodded, thinking over Kyoya's earlier words. He clearly wanted to swoop in soon after this battle and defeat Gingka; that was for sure. But by the sound of it, he expected Gingka to already have a loss on his record. No doubt his friend meant in this globally broadcasted battle. "This will be interesting."

xXxXx

A resounding crash shook the earth as the top of a rock formation slid to the ground. A bey leaped over the falling rubble and back to its blader's hand. Not far away, another rock was smashed to smithereens.

"Hmm." The blader walked casually over to the place the rock had been crushed. "You can quit lurking around, I know you're there," he called out.

"What, are you here to finish me off?" asked Damian Hart, stepping out from the shadows of the rubble. He didn't act afraid though.

"No." Ryuga simply stood with his arms crossed. "I'm surprised you were able to hide so well. It took me quite a while to find you."

Damian's gaze darkened. "If you knew I did that substitution, why didn't you finish me off in battle?"

Ryuga shrugged. "By hiding yourself in the earth and using your powers to send out a copy of yourself to do battle with me, you showed that survival meant more to you than following Nemesis. That was all I needed. So when I felt a trickle of energy leading from the image you created of yourself to the earth that image stood on, and when the image of yourself which you created died, I knew what you were trying to do."

A puzzled look crossed Damian's face. "I thought you wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't the real me."

"Against another opponent, they would not have been able to tell the difference," the Dragon Emperor stated. "But my power allowed me to sense where the source of your energy was coming from."

Damian looked at his Hades Kerbecs, which he held in one hand. "So what do you want with me? It's been over a year and I haven't bothered anyone and no one has bothered me. Why go to the trouble of tracking me down?"

"The world has recovered. Mostly. Regular world leaders are back in place and beys and bladers are trusted more every day. The Garcias even joined the Legendary Bladers in the end. What I'm trying to say is you would be accepted back into civilization."

Damian thought for a second. "I have no wish to return to the world. Gingka may have a forgiving nature, but inwardly he and the others will despise me." Ryuga said nothing, so he continued. "What about you? Still out for world domination?"

The Ldrago blader snorted derisively. "Rule over this mess? No thank you. Ldrago Destructor and I rule over the world of beyblade. That is my one destiny as the Dragon Emperor with the left-rotating bey."

 _Good to know you're still full of yourself,_ Damian thought, relieved that Project Galahad was no longer was in place.

When Damian looked back up, he noticed Ryuga squinting at the angle of the moon. In a sudden flash of red lightning, the blader across from him vanished and he was left alone once again in the American West.

xXx

As Gingka sat waiting to be called out for the battle, he noticed Hikaru whispering something in Tsubasa's ear up in the press box. Whatever it was made the Eagle blader uneasy, as far as Gingka could tell from this distance. Just then, Kenta walked over to him.

"The helicopter showed up, but the pilot said no one was at the rendezvous point," Kenta told him.

"It's not like him to back down from a challenge," Gingka replied, seemingly unconcerned with the situation. "He will be here no matter what."

As the two looked at the audience from inside the tunnel, it was clear they were getting restless. Checking his watch, Kenta noted it was exactly the time for the match to start. Tsubasa had stepped out of the press box and gone down to the bey stadium to announce the battle, knowing he could not risk putting it off any longer. After a short speech about blading he launched into the introductions as clouds moved over the open-air stadium.

"You know him as the winner of Battle Bladers, the leader of Team Gan Gan Galaxy – winners of the Beyblade World Championships – and one of the Legendary Bladers; please welcome Gingka Hagane and his bey, Pegasus!"

Gingka walked out into the gloomily dark arena to a very not-gloomy applause. People hollered and clapped thunderously. The Pegasus blader couldn't help but smile and wave back at his fans. "Thank you!" he beamed at them, even though he could hardly hear himself speak over their cheers.

Tsubasa looked nervously at the opposite side of the arena. He didn't _see_ anyone in the tunnel. Oh well. He had to go for it. "And his opponent-" But he was cut off by a flash of red lightning on the opposite side of the stadium from Gingka.

A hush fell over the crowd as the light dissipated and the clouds rolled away revealing the sun, which shone down brightly on competitors and spectators alike.

"Ryuga and his bey, Ldrago!" Tsubasa announced, finishing up his lines.

There was silence for a second until the applause began anew, nearly as thunderous as the cheers for Gingka had been earlier.

"You just had to make a flashy entrance, didn't you Ryuga?" Gingka shouted to his opponent while the cries of the audience diminished.

His opponent blinked his golden eyes once. "There was someone I needed to see," he stated mysteriously as he prepared Ldrago on his launcher. "Now quit babbling and let's battle!"

Gingka readied his Pegasus while thinking that it was odd only Ryuga had the entirety of one of his powers left, but pushed it from his mind. Not everything about the Ldrago blader made sense: like how only Ldrago's spirit had spoken to any of them. Leone, Orion and his Pegasus had never shown any sign of speech ability.

His thoughts were cut off though as Tsubasa led the audience and competitors in the countdown: "Three, two, one, let it rip!"


End file.
